Charges against a Windsor couple accused of allowing minors to be in their home and involved in illegal sexual activity have been dismissed.
The Crown offered no evidence in the case when Dale Sanford, 58, and Angie-Marie Saucier, 54, appeared in Windsor provincial court Friday.
They were each charged with two counts of allowing two 16-year-old girls to be sexually exploited by men in the Albert Street apartment rented by Sanford and Saucier
The allegations covered the period between January and July of 2018. The pair were charged last September.
Police said earlier this year that a witness contacted police after seeing questionable activity at the home. They said the apartment was a place where young people would congregate, and drugs would allegedly be available.
Sanford and Saucier had been alleged to have known about what was going on, but had no connection to the girls and were not accused of being pimps or providing the home for sexual encounters.
Crown attorney Bill Fergusson said that he didn’t have enough evidence to proceed with the charges.
After the charges were dismissed, a large congregation of people, including some who appeared to be youths, left the courtroom with Saucier and Sanford
Saucier pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking in connection with the investigation, and will be sentenced in October.
Two men — friends of Sanford and Saucier — were charged with sexual exploitation as part of the investigation.
Tony Fulford, 58, of Windsor, pleaded guilty in February to sexually touching a 16-year-old girl and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation.
Another man, Ian Stephen Stephens, 33, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation against two 16-year-old girls and is scheduled for trial later this year.
