Woman Guilty Of Thai Sex Slavery In Australia

[webfact]

Woman guilty of Thai sex slavery in Australia

Sydney, April 11, 2012 (AFP) - An Australian court on Wednesday convicted a 45-year-old woman of keeping a Thai cosmetic saleswoman as a sex slave and forcing her to service more than 720 clients to pay off a debt.

Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, 45, was found guilty in Canberra's Supreme Court of six sex slavery-related charges relating to the woman she recruited to come to Australia as a sex worker in 2007.

The victim, whose identity was withheld, told the court her passport was taken once she arrived and she was forced to see more than 720 clients over three and a half months to pay off an Aus$43,000 (US$44,000) debt Nantahkhum said she owed.

She said she had decided to work as a prostitute to help pay the mortgage on her rice field and put her son through school.

Nantahkhum offered the victim a bribe to keep quiet about her circumstances, and was convicted of perverting the course of justice, as well as intentionally possessing a slave and exploiting a non-citizen.

The slavery charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-04-11

[Kananga]

Lovely example of Thai Rak Thai.

Poor girl. Good to see her stand up against this monster. Hope she will still be able to provide a future for her family.

[edwardandtubs]

The first line is misleading. She wasn't convicted of keeping a cosmetic saleswoman as a sex slave. She was convicted of keeping a prostitute as a sex slave.

[scorecard]

1. Hope the 'slave' gets some form of compensation as part of the punishment handed down on the dragon lady.

2. Somehow I doubt she was the only 'slave' in the clutches of this dragon and I'm guessing she didn't operate this 'service' all alone, probably a gang of some sort. What happened to them?

3. I wonder what punishment the dragon was given by the court, can't see it mentioned in the AFP report.

[TheWalkingMan]

720 clients over three and a half months

three and a half months = about 105 days... 720/105 = 6.9 customers per day... That would rival Soi 6's busiest workers...

[kerryk]

720 Aussie guys didn't notice she was a sex slave! Those Aussie guys must either be pretty naive or pretty used to sex slaves.

You would think that someone, maybe an NGO or someone would have noticed that Australia had a sex slave problem.

[Ulysses G.]

The Grey Man must have been in Thailand at the time.

[siampolee]

The first line is misleading. She wasn't convicted of keeping a cosmetic saleswoman as a sex slave. She was convicted of keeping a prostitute as a sex slave.

Rather a judgmental comment,.We can but only presume you were or are aware of the victims background so can you confirm to us if she was in fact

A.

A cosmetics saleswomen taken in by a glib advertisement and a fast talker. or

B.

A lady of the night who was as you so succintely described ''a prostitute.'' ?

Please do give us the benefit of your inside information concerning the moral standards of the victim in this case.

Strange as it may seem the greater majority of Thai women are not prostitutes, perhaps you are judging peoples standard by the standards of those people you consort with.

[scorecard]

720 Aussie guys didn't notice she was a sex slave! Those Aussie guys must either be pretty naive or pretty used to sex slaves.

You would think that someone, maybe an NGO or someone would have noticed that Australia had a sex slave problem.

Fair comment, but not exclusive to Australian 'clients'.

[harrry]

"She said she had decided to work as a prostitute to help pay the mortgage on her rice field and put her son through school."

Yes a slave as she had to pay off her mortgage which was her choice. She apparently did this in some months.

It was her decision to do this.

[Kananga]

"She said she had decided to work as a prostitute to help pay the mortgage on her rice field and put her son through school."

Yes a slave as she had to pay off her mortgage which was her choice. She apparently did this in some months.

It was her decision to do this.

You are incorrect. She had her passport taken so she could not leave (a slave) and was forced to work to pay off a debt to the woman who was prosecuted. If she chose to go there to work as a prostitute where she could have control of when and were and sho she did business with then I agree however this was not the case. Her freedom was restricted and she had to work for someone else until a debt she did not legally have to pay was repaid. A slave.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Kananga

[Clayton777]

Totally fishy smelling !

[thequietman]

Totally fishy smelling !

yours would be too, at nearly 7 clients a day.

[Greer]

Please also bear in mind that in parts of Australia, prostitution is legal. If the girl went to Australia to earn money by working in a legal job (and as long as she was legally entitled to work under the rules of her visa - which of course we cant know from the info provided), there is nothing at all legally wrong with that. The illegality is the woman retaining her passport and forcing her to work as a sex slave and presumably keeping the money - and I am pretty sure that pimping IS illegal, even if prostitution is not.

[kerryk]

Totally fishy smelling !

yours would be too, at nearly 7 clients a day.

In a legal brothel in Australia how many times a day is normal?

[Shurup]

"She said she had decided to work as a prostitute to help pay the mortgage on her rice field and put her son through school."

Yes a slave as she had to pay off her mortgage which was her choice. She apparently did this in some months.

It was her decision to do this.

You are incorrect. She had her passport taken so she could not leave (a slave) and was forced to work to pay off a debt to the woman who was prosecuted. If she chose to go there to work as a prostitute where she could have control of when and were and sho she did business with then I agree however this was not the case. Her freedom was restricted and she had to work for someone else until a debt she did not legally have to pay was repaid. A slave.

From the arguments above, I think the question was whether she was a prostitute or a saleswoman to beging with, not if she was a slave or not. Yes she was a prostiture as the article said but she was held and forced to work illegaly.