Warning: This story contains sensitive content that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
A man in Quebec has been arrested after being caught filming his sexual encounters with dozens of women and later extorting them, and sex work advocates say cases like this are frequent.
Martin Pillay, 43, was arrested Tuesday morning in Montreal by officers who say their investigation into the case found that the man had filmed his sexual relations with at least 34 women without their consent, the majority of whom were sex workers.
Spokesperson Ghislain Vallières from the Longueuil police department, the local force in charge of the investigation, says they arrested the 43-year-old at his home in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough for voyeurism, soliciting and purchasing sex, extortion and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Police say investigators were able to identify and contact at least three women from the man’s footage, which was taken over several years, dating back to 2019.Authorities released a photo of the suspect earlier this week, asking anyone who believes they may have been victimized by him to come forward in the investigation.
Sex work advocate Sandra Wesley says coming forward to police often puts the community at an even greater risk.
Wesley, who is the director of Stella, a Montreal-based organization by and for sex workers, told Media that extortion in her line of work is a regular, consistent occurrence.
She said that while it can often come in the form of a perpetrator using nonconsensual footage as a threat, it’s often done when the real identities of sex workers are exposed.
“When people find out our real identity, they can say, ‘Well, I’ll tell your family or your employer or your kids’ school’.”