The Winnipeg Police Service says that a project targeting "those who choose to exploit the vulnerable and underaged for sexual services" has resulted in over 30 arrests. The police also say the common age of the victims was just 13-years-old.
During the period of June 16, 2019, to August 31, 2019, the Winnipeg Police Service Counter Exploitation Unit focused on Project Guardian.
"The goal of the project was to target the demand side of sexual exploitation and the safety of those being exploited," the WPS says. That included conducting 38 DISC stops (Deter and Identify Sex-Trade Consumer).
As a result of the project, 34 people arrested for street sexual exploitation, and another five were arrested from online sexual exploitation.
Several offenders went through a "prostitution offender program" as a result of their arrests. Sergeant Rick McDougall says that it's very rare to arrest somebody who has previous contact with the police in regards to prostitution offences. McDougall says that just shows how effective the DISC stops and offender programs are.
McDougall says that a number of other leads were also generated for further investigation. He says that prostitution continues to move from the streets to the internet, but that police are using measures to deter offenders there as well.
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