The unspeakable crimes unfolded over years.
Using children as sexual playthings, pimping at least one of them out, using them all for carnal gratification.
In Port Colborne, people suspected that a 55-year-old man and some of his associates weren’t quite right.
Their fears were never articulated until community services became involved and contacted the Niagara Regional Police.
“People suspected something wasn’t right,” one longtime resident of the area told The Toronto Sun. “But it was happening on the other side of the tracks so most turned a blind eye.”
Now, nine men and one woman from the area have been arrested and charged with a slew of sex crimes against children.
The suspected ringleader — who cannot be named because it might identify the victims — allegedly engaged in the depraved doings for at least two decades, cops say.
And he allegedly brought in others to take part in the sick games.
Sources told the Toronto Sun that the suspected ringleader — accused of three counts of incest — was pimping out his mentally challenged, underage daughter.
Because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation, Niagara Regional Police (NRP) are being tight-lipped.
Sgt. Paul Koscinski, of the NRP’s Special Victims Unit, added because of family associations, not all the suspects are being identified.
“So far there are eight victims who have come forward and we believe there are more,” Koscinski said. “We are leaving the door open.”
He said so far, there have been 10 arrests in the wide-ranging investigation.
“Not all of the accused are relatives but they all had associations,” Koscinski said, adding that those charged didn’t work together but instead were around the families the victims.
Most of the victims were underage girls except for one male victim.
“You didn’t want those people around your kids,” one man said. “If they were your neighbours then it was time to move.”
And what of the suspects?
One man, Clem Laroche, 78, and charged with sexual assault is a local gadfly who ran for council in 2003. He came last with 154 votes.
Most of those charged are men with the exception of Susan Leitch, 44, of Renfrew, who is charged with the sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.
Only Leitch and a Welland man, Bruno Morin, 56, who is charged with sexual assault are not from Port Colborne, a town of 18,000 at the gate of the Welland Canal.
There is little information on the rest of the suspects.
Also charged in the probe:
Gerald “Butchy” Fleming, 52, Port Colborne: Sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a person with a disability. Failing to comply with recognizance.
William Vorstenbosch, 50, Port Colborne: Sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.
Shayne Ayres, 70, Port Colborne: Two counts of sexual assault.
Christopher Gordon Brown, 56, Port Colborne: Sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a person with a disability and human trafficking.
Joseph Verreault, 54, Port Colborne: Sexual assault.
Martin Johnston, 64, Port Colborne: Sexual assault.
Suspected ringleader, 55, Port Colborne. Sexual Assault (6 counts); Sexual Interference (4 counts); Sexual Exploitation (4 counts); Invitation to Sexual Touching (4 counts); Sexual Exploitation of a Person with a Disability; Incest (3 counts); Corrupting Children (4 counts); Fail to Provide Necessaries of Life (4 counts); Forcible Confinement (4 counts); Assault with a Weapon; Assault (4 counts) and Uttering Death Threats.
If you are a victim or have any information regarding this investigation contact Niagara Regional Police or Crime Stoppers.