Couple arrested on human trafficking charges

Written By Brian Lockhart

Police followed up on Community Safety Advisory that was issue on July 17, by arresting two people in Essa Township, in the community of Utopia, and charging them with offences related to human trafficking.

The Safety Advisory issued by the Nottawasaga Detachment of the OPP advised that there was a sex offender who resides in Essa Township.

The Advisory stated, “Lauriston Charles Maloney, age 42, resides at, and has regular access to the ‘Beating the Odds' Children's Camp, which offers services for children with autism.” It goes on to say, “Maloney is a convicted sex offender with seral prior convictions, which include human trafficking of children.”

The advisory said “Maloney does present a safety risk.”

Immediately after this advisory was made public, the Beating the Odds website stopped loading information and became a mostly blank page, and all contact information was taken down.

The risk prompted local residents to organize protest in front of a Utopia home. There was a second protest organized on July 19, however during that protest, word spread that the couple who live in the home had been arrested.

Nottawasaga OPP confirmed through a press release that charges had been laid. 

According to police, the alleged victim in this case was not a child at the camp, and is now being supported in a safe location.

Maloney's previous convictions happened in Peel Region in 2004, and 2013. Thirteen of those charges involved sex trafficking of minors.

Maloney has been charged with two counts of assault, trafficking a person, receiving material benefit from trafficking a person, and forcible confinement.

Amber Maloney, 36, has been charged with trafficking a person, receiving material benefit from trafficking a person, administering a noxious substance, fraud, an uttering a forged document.

None of the charges have been proven in court.