Woman kidnapped, forced into escort work

Mother of a three, a 45-year-old Niagara Falls resident, receives a two-year sentence

Niagara is one of the top five communities — second per capita — in Canada for reported human trafficking incidents

A Niagara mother of three who kept a young woman at her home against her will and forced her to work as an escort has been convicted of kidnapping.

Kelly Downey, 45, appeared in Superior Court of Justice in Welland on Thursday and was sentenced to two years in custody after she pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and one count of receiving financial benefit.

With credit given for the time she had spent in pretrial custody, the equivalent of more than 648 days, she must now serve an additional 82 days behind bars.

In June 2020, court heard, a resident contacted Niagara Regional Police to report that an unknown woman had turned up on their doorstep claiming she had been kidnapped and kept against her will at a home on Buckeye Crescent in Niagara Falls.

The NRP human trafficking unit, with assistance from the special victims unit and intelligence unit, launched an investigation and determined the woman had been taken from a Mississauga hotel and forced to work in the sex industry.

The woman was ordered to get into a vehicle and was driven to Niagara Falls.

Court was told Downey blamed the victim for damage caused to a vehicle and told the woman she had to earn money to pay for the damage. She was made to sleep on the floor and was forced to clean the offender’s home.

Court was told the defendant would arrange for the woman to meet with clients in Niagara Falls and Hamilton. All money the victim received was handed over to the defendant.

Court heard the woman was occasionally allowed outside the house, typically between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., to have a cigarette. It was during one of those cigarette breaks that the victim fled to the nearby house for help.

In July 2020, court heard, a second woman was with her boyfriend in a Burlington apartment when the defendant and a male forced their way inside and claimed the woman owed them money.

They told the woman “they were taking her until the money was paid,” assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris told Judge Gerald Taylor.

The woman was driven to the Niagara Falls home and was not allowed to leave.

Defence lawyer Susannah ChungAlvares said her client was born in Toronto and grew up in a “lowincome, high-risk neighbourhood.”

She said the mother of three has struggled with addiction and has mental-health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

Since her arrest, court heard, the offender has taken advantage of various programs and services available to her while awaiting trial.

Her lawyer said the woman is an excellent candidate for rehabilitation and is looking forward to living a “drug-free life.”

Niagara is one of the top five communities — second per capita — in Canada for reported human trafficking incidents, according to recent statistics from YWCA Niagara Region.

Also, the latest NRP statistics show that proactive investigations increased to 65 in 2022 from 11 in 2020. Charges have also risen, from 33 in 2020 to 70 in 2022.

The human trafficking unit recently made headlines across southern Ontario by laying charges against 13 individuals arrested, one at a time, in a Niagara Falls hotel room over a couple of days starting at the end of January.