Tony Humby and Bruce Escott, two men accused of being central figures in a widening sexual exploitation case in St. John’s, were suspected of using youths to recruit others to go to a trailer park to perform sex acts for money and drugs.
A 355-page document obtained by CBC News shows the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary secured search warrants in part by alleging that Humby and Escott were trafficking boys under the age of 18.
The court filing, written by RNC Const. Jennifer Cotter explains what police believe was a recruitment scheme to get older victims to hire younger boys.
“Victims who have come forward have demonstrated that a pattern has been created involving younger males,” the officer wrote in the affidavit, known as an information to obtain a search warrant, or ITO.
Humby and Escott face a total of 86 charges involving a total of 13 complainants, spanning the period 1995 to 2022. The search warrant document summarizes police statements from more than two dozen others who made allegations without charges being filed.
A provincial court judge in late August granted a request from CBC News to unseal the search warrant filing. That document – which has not been tested in court – provides an account of how the RNC built the case around the two men.
Prosecutors were successful in blocking the release of certain information, including the names of those they believed were victims of Humby and Escott as youths but who later went on to recruit new victims after they grew older.
“For the victims of sexual assault and the potential victims of sexual assault, it should be remembered that the police do not believe that Mr. Humby and Mr. Escott acted alone,” Crown attorney Dana Sullivan wrote in a letter to the court filed in response to the request from CBC. to extract the search warrant documents.
“People believed to have been potential victims of one or both of these men in the past are believed to have assisted in recruiting youths to go to Humby’s residence.”
The affidavit alleges that the recruitment program at times appeared to cause some confusion among investigators.
LOOK | The CBC’s Ryan Cooke on why police believed two men were using young people to recruit others for sex acts:
RNC investigated two men – currently accused of sexual assault – for human trafficking
Investigators from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary applied for search warrants, in part because they believed Tony Humby and Bruce Escott were trafficking boys under the age of 18. The St. John’s neighbors are now facing a total of 86 charges, but human trafficking is not among them. list. The CBC’s Ryan Cooke explains.
The author wrote that during an interview on January 12, 2024, police warned a man and told him he was a suspect in the investigation. He became angry and told police he was not involved in sexually abusing young boys, adding that he had been abused by Humby at the age of 16. He was not charged.
Recruitment and intimidation tactics described
Police search warrant documents outline a series of allegations related to the recruitment of victims.
Cotter wrote how a complainant told police that Humby began pressuring him to bring in younger boys as he got closer to 18.
He said he was offered between $150 and $1,000 – less for oral sex, and more for intercourse.
The complainant told police that Humby specifically requested boys between the ages of 12 and 16.
Police have applied for search warrants to search Tony Humby’s home on Hussey Drive in St. John’s. The RNC insured his house in June 2023 for a certain period of time to execute those warrants. (Rob Antle/CBC)
According to Cotter’s affidavit, two workers at group homes in St. John’s told police over the past year that they believed a recruitment program existed in which underage boys would be responsible for finding other boys to move to the trailer park between 2019 and 2022 to bring. .
The mother of a minor complainant told social workers that she believed her son had been asked to be part of this recruitment process, and said she had seen messages in which Humby asked if he had friends who could come over.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, and her son responded. That’s according to the police report of her interview with an RNC investigator, as quoted in Cotter’s affidavit.
According to the ITO, investigators believe Humby and Escott exerted significant influence over boys between the ages of 13 and 18 by plying them with drugs, alcohol and money.
The affidavit notes several instances where intimidation played a role in the boys’ decision-making.
One complainant alleged that Humby threatened him with a gun and also threatened to strangle him during sex if he did not comply.
Humby faces one count of uttering threats in connection with these charges. No other charges related to threats or weapons have been filed.
In the days after the first charge was filed in April 2023, another young person reportedly told his social worker that he was being threatened and appeared to fear for his safety.
“(Name redacted) has received threats since charges were filed against Bruce and Tony, but will not reveal who,” reads an excerpt from a social worker’s report quoted in Cotter’s affidavit. “(He) stated he is doing well but is concerned for his safety.”
Bar not met on human trafficking charges: court documents
Human trafficking involves the recruitment or transport of a person for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
It is an extremely rare attack in Newfoundland and Labrador. Human trafficking cases have only come to court twice in the past fifteen years. Both times the charges were dropped.
Under Canadian law, there is a separate offense for trafficking in persons under the age of 18, which is punishable by a maximum of 14 years in prison, or life imprisonment in cases involving serious sexual assault.
That’s what crime police believed at the beginning of the investigation that Humby and Escott had committed, according to the search warrants filed.
Tony Humby was arrested in April 2023 and has been in custody since. He now faces 72 charges related to sexual assault allegations dating back more than a decade. (Ted Dillon/CBC)
During their investigation, police received statements from dozens of people, including more than thirty who made allegations of sexual offenses.
Ultimately, human trafficking was not among the total of 86 charges.
Investigators concluded that they were “unable to establish reasonable and probable grounds for charges related to human trafficking,” while noting “that this will be reviewed pending further information.”
Escott has pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual interference and is expected to enter further guilty pleas later this month as part of a deal with the Crown.
Humby has since pleaded not guilty. His trial starts in March.
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