Police tape demarking an accident scene.JOHN LEHMANN
Three teenage girls accused of luring other teens into prostitution over the Internet have pleaded not guilty in an Ottawa court.
The three, two of them in custody, are facing a total of 74 charges including human trafficking, procuring for prostitution, abduction and sexual assault.
They were arrested last June in the national capital area after social media was allegedly used to lure seven girls between 13 and 17 years of age to a home in southeast Ottawa.
Two of the accused girls were 15 and the third was 16 at the time of their arrests.
The charges relate to three separate incidents in May and June last year.
A publication ban prevents identification of both the accused and their alleged victims.