A young woman convicted of running a prostitution ring in Ottawa when she was 15 is seeking a youth sentence, saying she is sorry and will forever live with the consequences of her "vile actions," CFRA reports.
The 18-year-old woman was convicted earlier this year of more than two dozen charges, including human trafficking, after court heard she used Facebook and other social media sites to befriend girls aged 13 to 17, then forced them into prostitution.
She told court Monday that she is "solemnly sorry" for her actions and that "unlike before I have aspirations for my future."
The Crown is seeking an adult sentence that would see her serve three years in addition to the 3 1/2 she spent in pre-sentence custody as well as a lifetime weapons ban, a DNA sample order and lifetime registration as a sex offender.
But her defence says she should not be sentenced as an adult because she was just 15 and that her crimes were out of character.
It says she should be ordered into a clinical treatment and supervision program under a therapeutic sentencing option in the youth-justice law.
Defence lawyer Ken Hall says his client is the product of her upbringing by a disengaged mother who worked as a prostitute and brought drug and alcohol abuse into her home, adding she "is not a victim but she is a product of her environment."
Sentencing is set for Nov. 4.