An Ivy-area couple accused of human trafficking told a Barrie court Friday they are working with lawyers in hopes of soon getting bail.
Lauriston Maloney, 42, and Amber Maloney, 36, were charged Wednesday just days after police alerted the public that Lauriston Maloney was a convicted sex offender and listed on the national sex offender registry.
Nottawasaga OPP said that Maloney was convicted in Peel Region in 2004 and 2013 for 16 criminal charges related to child trafficking. Maloney, they added, was living at Beating the Odds Children's Camp in Essa Township, which offers services for children with autism and was owned and operated by his wife.
The public alert from police came in the form of a community safety advisory issued following “careful review of the offender as it relates to issues of public safety,” read Monday’s release.
After visiting the property on Tuesday, officials from the Ministry of Education issued a protection order which identified “an imminent threat to the health, safety, or welfare of any children for whom child care is provided” and ordered the centre to immediately stop providing childcare.
A statement from Ontario’s solicitor general’s office emailed to BarrieToday on Wednesday alerted all parents to “keep away” from the facility.
On Wednesday, the Maloneys were both charged with a list of offences.
Making a video court appearance from jail Friday, Lauriston Maloney told Justice of the Peace Renée Rerup he was working on a bail plan with his lawyer and asked to return to court Monday.
Maloney told the court he hadn’t heard the charges and asked that the full charges be read out in court. He has been charged with two counts of assault, trafficking in a person, receiving material benefit resulting from trafficking a person and forcible confinement.
All his charges were dated between Nov. 1, 2017 and July 18, 2023 in Simcoe County and elsewhere.
Amber Maloney also made a brief video appearance in court from jail Friday. She said she was working on getting a lawyer in hopes of putting together a bail plan and asked to return to court July 31. She is charged with trafficking in a person, receiving material benefit resulting from trafficking a person, administering a noxious substance, fraud over $5,000 and uttering a forged document.
Police have previously indicated the victim in the case did not attend the Beating the Odds day camp.
