The Supreme Court of Canada has given its constitutional blessing to a law that makes it easier to prosecute pimps, calling them a "pernicious and exploitative evil." In a 4-3 ruling yesterday, the top court upheld a Criminal Code provision that presumes a person is a pimp if the person lives with or is "habitually in the company of" prostitutes.Although all seven justices ruled the law violates an accused's constitutional right...
THE escort service business in Metro - and in Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver - has never seen an operator like Denis Huggins. Usually, escort services hire two or three women on a part-time basis, open up a couple of phone lines in a single city, and take out a small ad in the local Yellow Pages or the classified ads.And then the owners keep a low profile about their involvement in this legally borderline business.Not Huggins.Over a five-year period,...
LAST THURSDAY evening, York Regional police swooped down simultaneously on two Richmond Hill strip clubs. They arrested 160 people, charging them with various bawdy house and indecency offences. Police said dancers were allegedly engaging in sex acts with customers who paid as much as $1,000 annually to gain access to separate rooms where these activities took place. The raids followed a two-week undercover investigation and required the participation of by 77 officers. Many more police hours...