Three teens, one middle-aged man. He has what they want. Marijuana and maybe a place to couch surf. He gives it to them, but there’s a catch. They owe him now. He has power over them. They have to give him what he wants: sex, and he tosses in some money afterwards. They were 16 and 17 at the time. He preyed upon and exploited these vulnerable girls at his house in Alberta Avenue.

In a CTV Edmonton news story from November 2012, EPS Staff Sergeant Jerry Nash commended one of the girls, who first confided in her support worker. “It’s fair to say that this investigation probably wouldn’t have had the steam behind it without the brave actions of that youth to first make the admissions to our youth unit worker and then work with us to eventually get the arrest. ” Thanks to media coverage, two other girls came forward.

Mark Shannon was charged in February, 2013 after undercover operations. The three girls, now over 18, testified at a preliminary hearing in 2015, providing enough evidence to go to trial.

On the day the trial began in October, 2016, Mark Shannon pled guilty to possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. He was also charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference, procuring youth for sex, two counts of trafficking a controlled substance, and two counts of possession of stolen property. These charges were withdrawn at time of sentencing, not because these crimes against the young women didn’t happen, but, because this spared them the trauma of having to tell their stories a second time. His sentence is two years.

In addition to the Victim Impact Statements written by the three young women, CEASE prepared a Community Victim Impact Statement. Under the Victim Bill of Rights enacted in 2015, it was recognized that a community, whether it’s a group, or a neighbourhood, can suffer from the impacts of criminal activities.

Like the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child,” it took a community of support workers and CEASE Victim Advocates, Protection of Sexually Exploited Children (PSECA) workers, EPS Vice and Youth Unit, and the Crown Prosecution office to shepherd the young women from the time of exploitation through the court process to the time of Shannon’s sentencing. While these youth still face challenges in their life journeys, they know that caring adults will walk alongside them.

Kate is the Executive Director of the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE).