More young women have contacted Ottawa Police about a man they met online who offered a career in modelling and police allege, he was intent on luring them into the sex trade. The case involves 37-year-old Cameron Lyons, a volunteer equipment manager for the UOttawa Gee Gees who is accused of luring two teenaged girls .
Today, police say they had 20 new calls , some saying they had suspicions about the accused more than a decade ago.
17-year-old Rena Curren had a Facebook “friend” request last year from a man named Joe Howorth who said he ran VIP Entertainment.
"We are looking for new, attractive and fun-loving models to add to our roster” he wrote in the post, “We offer top dollar in the industry.”
“He said he's one of the top agencies in Ottawa,” Curren recalls, “and I've never heard of this guy and I've lived here all my life so I thought it was kind of suspicious.”
Rena, who is a model, didn't respond.
“I didn't feel the need to reply to it,” she says, “I didn't feel something was right.”
Yesterday, police arrested 37-year-old Cameron Lyons who they say also used the name Joe Howorth and Steve DeBone on social media. He's accused of posing as a talent agent with a fake company called VIP Entertainment, trying to lure two 14-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl into first modelling, then turning the conversation towards providing sexual services at parties and events.
Ottawa Police say since the news of the arrest yesterday, several more potential victims have come forward with some cases dating back a decade. One woman told CTV she had been contacted 12 years ago, when she was 14 and asked,
“If I would be willing to do “nude modeling” for higher pay,” she recalls, “because I looked old enough to be able to get away with it.”
Cameron Lyons was charged with three counts of trafficking in persons under 18, three counts of child luring and two counts of procuring a person to provide sexual services under 18.
Police say there is the potential for additional charges to be laid.
“There’s definitely a number of new investigations that have begun,” says Sergeant Jeff Leblanc with the Ottawa Police Human Trafficking Unit, “and we expect to receive new phone calls.”
While Curren did not respond to the Friend request, she did contact her modelling agency. Angie Sakla-Seymour, of Angie’s Models and Talent Agency, says girls and boys need to know who their Facebook friends are.
“The message is don't believe anything you read on Facebook,” Sakla-Seymour says, “don't accept people you don't know. Go through the agency always.”
Rena Curren says that is sage advice.
“That could have ended so badly,” she says, “so I'm really glad I didn't respond to his message.”
Police say they have received so many calls they are now requesting people contact them by email as well. We have that contact information on our website. Public tips can be directed to 613-236-1222, ext. 5005 or by e-mail at humantrafficking@ottawapolice.ca<mailto:humantrafficking@ottawapolice.ca>.
