Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing
A man has pleaded guilty in an Edmonton courtroom to trafficking a 13-year-old B.C. girl.
Kemron Alexander, 29 at the time of the offences, has admitted to trafficking someone under 18 and obstruction of justice, according to Crown counsel. The offenses occurred in 2023.
An agreed statement of facts indicates the girl was just 12 when the accused met her in B.C. in early 2022.
“They knew each other because the accused had previously acted as a driver and bodyguard” for the victim when she had “engaged in activity involving adult men paying her money so that they could engage in sex acts with her,” the document reads.
It goes on to read that after each transaction, the girl gave her earnings to the accused to hold on her behalf, and she would be given a percentage to draw from for expenses.
In that same year, after being reported missing in B.C., police found the girl during an undercover operation linked to online sex ads in Fort McMurray.
Alexander was arrested and released pending further investigation.
But his phone was seized, and according to the court documents, an analysis of the device revealed the accused had been directing the girl “for months regarding providing sexual services in exchange for money.”
Police later issued a warrant for his arrest and he was picked-up by police in Vancouver.
While in custody in Edmonton, court documents indicate, Alexander continued to contact the victim, despite a no-contact order.
The documents also state that he urged her to plead his innocence and also “gave her tips on how to best advertise her services” and encouraged her to “recruit other women to become sex workers and then to send him the money earned by them.”
The document also said that during the offence period, Alexander “influenced, directed and exercised control” over the victim “in engaging and continuing to engage in prostitution.”
Alexander is back in court for a sentencing hearing later this week.
Crown said it is asking for a jail sentence of nine years. Defence wants 5 years, six months.
Sue Brown, of the advocacy group Justice for Girls, said B.C. needs to do more to fight human trafficking.
“What we know from our work, generally, is girls as young as 10 and 11 and 12 can be groomed and lured into trafficking and it seems as though the ages become younger and younger,” she said. “What that tells me is there’s a demand for exploitation of teenage girls as young as 12 years old and it’s very horrifying and very upsetting.”
Brown said that while the province funds prevention programs, it falls short when it comes to protection for young trafficking survivors.
‘We don’t see that we have specialized safe houses for children who have been trafficked, for example, in British Columbia. We don’t see that we have specialized victims’ services workers that are adequately resourced and available throughout the province. A number of the teenage girls that we work with live in rural and northern communities where there’s simply inadequate or non-existent victims’ services supports available for families and the girls themselves,” she said.
She pointed to Ontario, where there is specific legislation to protect trafficking survivors. That province also has dedicated prosecutors and police.
Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada takes place Feb. 22.
