Moncton woman charged in human trafficking investigation; OPS seeking victims and releasing photo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 8, 2024        2:00 pm

(Ottawa) — This week, the Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit (HTU) has charged a woman in relation to human trafficking and other related charges. This investigation was assisted by the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Human Trafficking Unit & Intelligence Led Joint Forces Strategy and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Codiac Crime Reduction Unit.

The investigation began in March 2024 involving one female victim. The offences occurred between September 2019 and February 2024.

Cynthia CAISSIE, 36 years old, of Moncton New Brunswick is charged with:

• Trafficking in Persons by exercising control
• Material benefit in trafficking
• Material benefit from sexual services
• Procuring
• Utter threats
• Assault, Assault with a weapon and Assault Cause Bodily Harm
• Possession of a weapon
• Mischief to property
• Advertising another person’s sexual services
• Withhold travel or identity document trafficking a person over
• Utter forged passport

CAISSIE appeared in court on November 6^th, 2024 and she was remanded into custody.

HTU investigators believe that there are other victims of human trafficking related to this investigation. Considering victims may not know the legal name of their offender, and the fact that CAISSIE is alleged to have used the alias of ‘Bailey’, the Ottawa Police is taking the extra step of publicly releasing a photo of the accused.

The Human Trafficking Unit will respect victims’ wishes whether to pursue criminal charges, and regardless, can offer resources to support survivors of human trafficking. The reporting of these incidents by victims to police is key for investigators to identify suspects and determine crime trends.

Anyone with information regarding incidents involving this individual is asked to call the Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit tip line at 613-236-1222 ext. 5625 or email mcm@ottawapolice.ca.

Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppers.ca.

This investigation was also supported by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

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Through the Community Safety Data portal data.ottawapolice.ca, members of the public can view, download, and interact with data released by the Ottawa Police Service.

CONTACT:

Media Relations Section                  

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366