Police say a 22-year-old Quebec man accused of attempting to force two young women into the sex trade through violence was arrested last week in Calgary.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) says Xavier Godbout was taken into custody Thursday and is facing human trafficking charges. He was also wanted on warrants from Quebec.
Police allege he met the women on social media and convinced them to travel to Calgary “under the pretense of a job.”
ALERT says the accused tried forcing them into working in the sex trade. When one of the victims resisted, she was allegedly punched several times and had a gun held to her head. The women managed to contact police.
“Victim safety was our utmost concern. Upon receiving information from our colleagues in Quebec, our unit sprang into action in order to get these two women to a safe place and make an arrest,” said ALERT staff Sgt. Gordon MacDonald.
ALERT’s human trafficking unit believes there may be additional victims and are encouraging them to contact police.
Godbout, who has a firearms prohibition, is facing multiple charges, including attempting to commit trafficking, extortion, advertising of sexual services and multiple firearms offences.
Police say the accused was also wanted on two warrants: assault with a weapon from April 2022, and failure to comply with a probation order from October 2022.