Emanuel Jaques was a 12-year-old Portuguese-Canadian boy whose tragic murder in 1977 shocked Toronto and catalyzed major social change. Working as a shoeshine boy on the seedy Yonge Street Strip, Emanuel was lured into an apartment above a massage parlour with the promise of money. There, he was brutally sexually assaulted, strangled, and drowned by a group of men. The crime led to the convictions of Saul David Betesh, Robert Kribs, and Joseph Woods. Public outrage over the murder spurred protests and a citywide crackdown on adult establishments, transforming the downtown core and igniting debates about urban safety, justice, and community responsibility.