One of six men charged in Halifax human trafficking case denied bail

A Dartmouth man has been denied bail on charges of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.

Martin Allan Rangers, 43, is one of six men charged in an investigation into the trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls and young women in the Halifax area.

Adam Ray Greenlaw, 40, of Halifax was the first person arrested. Greenlaw was picked up by police in April following a three-month investigation and now faces 64 offences involving nine complainants.

The identities of the alleged victims, who are all their teens or early 20s, are protected by a publication ban.

Rangers faces four charges involving one of those complainants: sexual assault, obtaining sexual services for consideration from a person under 18, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

Police allege he committed the offences between May 2022 and April of this year.

Rangers has been in custody since mid-August. His bail hearing took place this week in Halifax provincial court, with Judge Ann Marie Simmons giving her decision Friday.

There’s a publication ban on the evidence and submissions heard by the judge and the reasons she gave for denying Rangers bail.

All six defendants in the case are scheduled to make their next court appearance Sept. 19.

Greenlaw is the only accused who has not applied for bail. He is charged with nine counts of sexual assault and four counts each of sexual interference, procuring someone under the age of 18 to provide sexual services for consideration, and making and possessing child pornography.

He also faces three counts each of trafficking someone under 18 and receiving material benefit from that trafficking, assault with a weapon, advertising sexual services for consideration and distributing child pornography, and two counts each of sexual assault with a weapon, human trafficking, receiving material benefit from human trafficking, procuring someone to provide sexual services for consideration, receiving material benefit from those sexual services, invitation to sexual touching, assault, possession of a prohibited weapon, breaching a weapons prohibition and breaching release conditions.

In addition, Greenlaw is charged with single counts of forcible confinement, uttering threats, assault causing bodily harm and property mischief.

Rest got bail

The rest of the accused were granted bail over the past few months with the Crown’s consent.

Shane Jason Mahar, 49, of Trenton is charged with two counts each of trafficking a person under the age of 18 and obtaining sexual services from someone under 18 and one count of possession of child pornography.

Richard Walter Beaver, 34, of no fixed address faces one count of trafficking a person under 18.

Kyle Shane Spicer Birchard, 30, of Dartmouth and Rodi Saarloos, 52, of Bedford are both charged with obtaining sexual services from a person under 18 and possessing child pornography.