Two of the most serious sexual violence cases in the province were called in neighboring St. John’s courtrooms this morning.
The cases may be unrelated but the allegations are disturbingly similar, involving the violent sexual exploitation of dozens of vulnerable youth on the Northeast Avalon Peninsula.
Thirty-four-year-old Markus Hicks and 64-year-old Tony Humby were both arrested and charged in 2023. Humby and his co-accused, 84-year-old Bruce Escott, were arrested in April of that year.
Hicks was a Paradise teacher and volleyball coach when he was picked up and jailed in September. He faces more than 200 charges, accused of using dozens of fake names on social media, both male and female, to lure mostly youth to his home for sex over the past decade.
Police allege he went by names like Maria Winchester, Brittany Campbell, Isabella Ricci and Corinne Smith, concealing his identify during the sex acts at his home.
Hicks has been in custody at Bishop’s Falls since his arrest, appearing by video as lawyers continue to finalize what’s expected to be a plea deal by mid-April.
Bruce Escott is shown on video last month at the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Centre. (VOCM News)
Humby, meanwhile, was on track for a similar resolution earlier this month, until new information thrust the case into closed hearings to determine its admissibility.
Those arguments, which can’t be reported, are expected to continue for the rest of this week.
Humby faces more than 70 sexual violence charges. Escott has already been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the specter of so-called Jordan timelines hangs over both provincial court cases which, by law, are supposed to be concluded within 18 months of charges being laid.
The defence has said delays won’t be an issue in the Hicks matter, but it remains to be seen in the Humby case.
The court can also exercise some flexibility with those timelines in more complex cases.
