Halifax woman’s human trafficking charges reach N.S. Supreme Court

A Halifax woman has been committed to stand trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on allegations of forcing a teenage girl to work in the sex trade.

The 17 charges against Chloe Wile, 20, include trafficking a person under the age of 18, receiving material benefit from that trafficking and extortion.

Wile also faces charges of procuring a person under 18 to provide sexual services for consideration, receiving material benefit from sexual services provided by someone under 18, advertising sexual services, forcible confinement and two counts each of assault, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and property mischief.

The Crown alleges the offences were committed between October 2020 and November 2021. The identity of the complainant is protected by a publication ban.

A preliminary inquiry was held in Halifax provincial court July 24, with Wile consenting to committal to trial. The Crown called evidence at that hearing from three people, including the complainant.

Lawyer Josh Nodelman appeared in Supreme Court in Halifax on Wile’s behalf Thursday to begin the process of setting dates for a jury trial. Those dates will likely be set when the case returns to court Sept. 7.

Wile was released on a $4,000 bail order in November 2022 and placed on house arrest at her surety’s residence in Upper Chelsea, Lunenburg County.

She is not allowed to possess or use a cellphone or any other device capable of connecting to the internet unless she is in the “immediate physical presence” of her surety.

Wile is also prohibited from possessing or consuming drugs, communicating with or being around anyone under the age of 18, having contact with the complainant and one other Crown witness, and possessing any weapon as defined by the Criminal Code. She can only use a knife for food preparation or consumption or in the immediate course of her employment.