[QUOTE=WrinkledinTime;286210]Trevor Wilhelm reports for the [I]Windsor Star[/I], 8 Nov 2011:
[url]http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Landlord+bawdy+house+charge+dropped/5677818/story.html[/url]
[INDENT]WINDSOR, Ont. --[B] A Windsor landlord caught up in a prostitution probe claimed â??vindicationâ? Tuesday after a bawdy house charge was dropped for lack of evidence.[/B]
Richard Bastien, 46, was charged Sept. 30, 2010, following a raid on Outer Limits Spa at 557 Pelissier St.
â??I think itâ??s despicable because if you look at the transcripts and the evidence they had against me, it was non-existent,â? Bastien said. â??My reputation, it was hurt. People were is disbelief that this was going on. My good friends knew the truth behind it. But people who donâ??t know you so personally, it always sticks in the back of your mind.... You suffer as a result of it.â?
According to the facts read in court, officers with the Windsor police morality squad had seen him coming and going from the massage parlour.
He was charged with being the keeper of a common bawdy house ....
Police said at the time of the arrest that the investigation had lasted about two months ...
As for the bawdy house charge, Bastien said he and his wife own the building, not the massage parlour. Outer Limits is only a tenant, said Bastien, and he has nothing to do with the business.
â??This is the second time theyâ??ve charged me with this in the last three years and they know that me and my wife are not the owners,â? said Bastien. â??Itâ??s all bogus (expletive).â?
As the landlord, Bastien said he was often inside the building.
â??Being there on premises, cleaning up, doing maintenance, whatever,â? he said. â??I just happened to be there when they did a raid.â?
[B]Bastien said police had been pressuring him to evict the massage parlour.
â??They wanted us to not rent to the massage parlours who are our tenants,â? said Bastien. â??Under the advice of our lawyer, until they were charged with something illegal and convicted, we really didnâ??t have the right to evict them.â?[/B]
Bastien said heâ??s just glad the ordeal is over.
â??We can move on with our lives,â? he said. â??It really put our family through a lot of stress the last year and a half. I do feel vindication. There should be something done with the court system and the justice system, because itâ??s almost like youâ??re guilty until you prove yourself innocent, and it shouldnâ??t be that way.â?
Supt. Vince Power of Windsor police said he couldnâ??t comment on what happened in court...
Power added that bawdy houses are â??always a challenge to investigate.
â??They are resource heavy from a police perspective. So we do have those challenges but weâ??re still vigilant in pursuing those investigations.â?
He wouldnâ??t elaborate on what goes into such an investigation.
â??There were some things in the investigation that we do in many bawdy house investigations that helps substantiate the charge,â? said Power. â??If I was to reveal that in the public domain, then that investigative technique would be lost.â?[/INDENT][/QUOTE]
u r treated as if ur guilty until u prove urself innocent in canada. the judges r all dirty and manipulate the system to make job security for the asshole lawyers and prosicuters.. all the J W's r in kahoots for sure over the dollar .. there the reall crooks