Canada

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Legislation targets traffickers of children

Sentences too lenient, Manitoba MP says

By: Mia Rabson

Posted: 01/30/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Manitoba MP Joy Smith: 'necessary bill' (PUBLIC SAFETY CANADA)

OTTAWA -- People convicted of trafficking children in Canada will spend at least five years behind bars under new legislation introduced by Manitoba MP Joy Smith on Thursday.

The legislation creates a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for human trafficking of anyone under the age of 18.

"This is a very, very necessary bill because Canada is very, very lenient on anything to do with the trafficking of children," said Smith, who has made battling human trafficking her personal mission as an MP.

She introduced it as part of a private member's bill, which tend to be legislation longshots that rarely pass.

Human trafficking, often referred to as the modern-day slave trade, only became part of Criminal Code in 2005. It carries a maximum sentence of 14 years but no minimum. Smith said the first two convictions under that law delivered short sentences.

Imani Nakpangi, 25, pleaded guilty last May to two counts of human trafficking for forcing two teenage girls into prostitution in Toronto. He sold the girls, who were 14 and 15 when he first lured them, on the Internet. One of the victims estimated she spent 26 months as his slave and earned him more than $360,000. She was told she'd have to pay him $100,000 to be released.

Nakpangi was sentenced to three years for the human-trafficking charge and two years for other related charges, but he received 13 months credit for time spent in custody before his trial.

Smith said it is likely Nakpangi will spend less than a year in jail before becoming eligible for parole. That prison time would be shorter than the amount of time he held his victims captive.

"He's not going to spend very much time in prison," she said.

In November, Michael Lennox Mark was convicted of human trafficking for luring a 17-year-old girl and forcing her into prostitution. He received two concurrent two-year sentences, but when his pre-trial custody was taken into account, he was in jail for only a week after he was convicted.

Benjamin Perrin, a University of British Columbia law professor, said that sentence under-represents the harm done to the victim.

"We are concerned the courts are not treating these cases with the gravity they warrant," he said.

Perrin said a five-year minimum sentence is totally reasonable, especially considering in the United States, trafficking a child under 14 carries a 15-year minimum sentence, and a child between 14 and 18 results in a 10-year minimum sentence.

"It's a crucial step to have harsher sentences," said Perrin. "These traffickers have made a lifestyle out of this. It's not an isolated case. How can we expect the victims to come forward if their trafficker only spends a week behind bars."

It's estimated between 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked every year around the world, providing traffickers of up to $5 billion in revenue.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 30, 2009 A12

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