Brad Hunter, Joe Warmington

Staggering 1,100 men in Ontario inquired about sex with kids in police sting

Like children in front of a bowl of candy, the perverts could not resist.

An online ad offered raunchy sex with an underage teen girl.

In reality, the operation was an elaborate sting that at one point was swamped with more than 100 calls a day from Johns in the GTA seeking to feed their most demented desires.

There were an eye-popping 1,100 queries across the province for sex with the non-existent teen, in reality, an undercover cop.

Peel Regional Police's head of the human trafficking section, Det. Sgt. Bob Hackenbrook, told the Toronto Sun that human trafficking detectives were surprised by the volume of interest that the bogus ad garnered.

"We were busy," Hackenbrook said.

While 35 were arrested and charged by Peel cops, it is the high level of interest in sex with children that is most chilling. Across Ontario, there were 85 arrests and 165 charges laid.

"It was a very difficult case, but there were great partnerships with other police services," Hackenbrook added.

Those charged included a teacher, students, business owners, construction workers, entrepreneurs, and retirees. One of those arrested had two outstanding warrants for his arrest in Guelph for breaching his release order.

The sting was part of Project Juno and comprised human trafficking teams working undercover operations across the province. The goal was to target Johns who were attempting to have sex with children.

Cops say the sting was the result of a "positive Supreme Court of Canada ruling R. vs Ramelson from York Regional Police Project called Raphael."

The ruling created a "step-by-step approach for officers and the Crown in the prosecution of these proactive investigations. Our project, called Project Juno, is a proactive approach to identifying and arresting Johns who seek to pay for sex from youths," Peel Regional Police said in a release.

There have already been 14 guilty pleas, with other cases before the courts. Police did not release the names of the perps on lawyers' orders, with many protected under publication bans. Cops did release a poster of the accused with their faces blurred.

Most were charged with communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services from a person under 18 years old.

AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INVESTIGATION:

• About 1,100 people responded to the ads with an average of 100 per day.
• Around 90% of the accused resided in Peel, with several living in neighbouring jurisdictions, including Toronto, Woodbridge, and the Kitchener/Waterloo area.
• During the undercover operation, Johns reported the ads to cops and Crime Stoppers out of concern for the undercover officer presenting themselves as a teen.
• Two of the accused were charged with assault police after striking cops while attempting to flee.
• One male was charged with making sexually explicit material available to a child after sending a photo to an undercover officer.
• Another male was charged with child abandonment and criminal negligence after he left his child at home with no supervision and the front door unlocked to attend a hotel hoping to have sexual relations with an underage person.

"It's important work," Hackenbrook said. "It's important to the officers involved to know they helped protect the victims of human trafficking. It's a very committed group who work hard to protect the vulnerable. The victims here were children.

"It's difficult work. Two of our officers were assailed by suspects who were trying to escape arrest."

Cops say that in addition to getting would-be predators off the streets, the purpose of Juno was to "prevent exploitation before it occurs," safeguard sex trafficking victims by linking them to supports, and hold offenders accountable.

Project Juno was active for 11 days between November 2023 and February 2025. The Peel Vice and Human Trafficking Unit worked with Halton Regional Police Human Trafficking Unit, the IJFS team members, and the Nova Scotia Provincial Human Trafficking Unit.

During this time, 35 men were arrested and charged with communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services from a person under 18 years old.

Also participating in the OPP-led Provincial Human Trafficking Intelligence-Led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS) were police services in Durham, Sudbury, Halton, London, Niagara, Peterborough, Toronto, Windsor, and York.