Delay leads to bail for West Island men charged with forcing woman to be prostitute

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Two young men from the West Island who were charged last month with forcing a woman to work as a prostitute for them were granted bail on Friday, in part because it took too long to have their release hearing due to a lack of personnel at the Montreal courthouse.

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“The judicial district of Montreal is presently incapable of assuring the release of people, through a bail hearing, without going beyond the normal delay of three days. It has become systemic in Montreal. We cannot hold a (hearing) that is considered urgent because we are talking about detaining people. It is extremely serious,” Quebec Court Judge Joëlle Roy said before deciding to grant bail to Tyler Smith, 24, of Pierrefonds and Fahiym Speede, 25, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

“I have been in the (legal) domain for 30 years and I have never seen a situation like this — never, never, never.”

Due to a lack of personnel, in particular courtroom clerks and judges, several hearings have been delayed at the Montreal courthouse in recent months.

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Smith and Speede made their first court appearances on May 11 and never renounced their right to have a bail hearing within three days.

On Thursday, their defense lawyer, Alexandre Goyette, asked Roy to hear a motion seeking to have the 10 charges filed in the case placed under a stay of proceedings because they had yet to have a bail hearing. Goyette cited the shortage of personnel as one reason why his clients were deprived of their right to have a bail hearing within a reasonable delay.

Roy informed Goyette that because she was sitting as a justice of the peace this week, she did not have the jurisdiction to hear the motion. But she agreed to proceed with the bail hearing.

Both men are charged with procuring a young woman Speede knew for sexual services, receiving a financial benefit from her and advertising her services. Speede is also charged with extorting the woman and threatening to kill or harm members of her family. Both men are also charged with being in possession of a loaded and prohibited firearm.

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While summarizing the evidence in the case, prosecutor Luc Pagé said Speede asked the woman to work as a prostitute three years ago but she refused. She did not have much contact with him until she called him earlier this year while looking for a place to live. She later told police she began working as a prostitute while she lived with both men, and eventually found they were controlling her. She alleged that Smith and Speede took control of which clients she had sex with and the way her services were advertised on the internet. On one occasion, she was told she would have to work if she wanted to eat. She also alleged that the men used money she made to bail Speede out of jail in February.

The two men are also alleged to have had johns come to where all three resided, on Lake St. in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, to have sex with her. At some point, Pagé said, the victim noticed that Smith and Speede sometimes appeared to be carrying firearms.

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“On Feb. 13, they got into a fight because she was fed up with how they were talking about her and treating her,” Pagé said, adding the victim left the residence at 3 am while Smith and Speede slept. She took $2,080 with her from her, but left many of her belongings behind from her.

She returned home and told her sister what she had been through over the previous two weeks. Less than two hours later, Pagé said, one of the accused called the sister and said there would be “consequences for her family de ella” if the money was n’t returned.

The sister contacted the Montreal police and they began an investigation. On May 5, the police carried out a search warrant at her residence on Lake St. and seized firearms and drugs.

The case against both men will return to court in August.

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