Cochrane man facing human trafficking, extortion charges

A Cochrane man has been charged with trafficking a woman he met on an online dating site two decades ago.

RCMP say the investigation started in February of this year.

A woman reported that she had been the victim of human and sex trafficking by a man she met on the Internet between 2004 and 2007, in Cochrane.

After a brief, consensual relationship, RCMP say the man started to traffic the woman online to make money.

Investigators explain he exploited nude photos of the woman, placing them on an internet site where other men would then contact the site to arrange for sexual services. The man would then drive the victim to the arranged locations where he would wait and collect the money before driving the victim to the next scheduled appointment.

Other victims of this crime were identified by RCMP throughout the nine-month long investigation. The other women who came forward were able to corroborate the allegations, police say.

“I believe that this is more common than what we want to believe that vulnerable women are being exploited in this way,” says Sgt. Matt Pumphrey.

Last week, RCMP arrested 47-year-old Darren Routhier and charged him with several crimes, including human trafficking, receiving financial benefits from the trafficking of a person, sexual assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement, and extortion.

Routhier has been released from custody on the condition he have no contact with the victims of this investigation, as well as other conditions.

He is next scheduled to be in court on Nov. 26.

‘People don’t really understand the nature of human trafficking’

Canadian country singer Paul Brandt, founder of the advocacy group Not in My City and co-chair of the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons, was at the news conference.

Brandt said human trafficking is a $180-billion a year industry, with each victim in Canada bringing in $280,000 for criminals. He said there needs to be more awareness, since the average age of a victim when they are first trafficked in Canada is 13.

“It’s not someone in a white van who is stealing someone necessarily,” he said.

“People don’t really understand the nature of human trafficking. In essence, it’s force, fraud and coercion facilitated by a third party.”

Brandt praised the complainant in the Cochrane case for coming forward and said it’s important to put power back in the hands of those who are abused.