The 16-year-old girl who was the victim of human trafficking believed that she was in a romantic relationship with her trafficker.
This is according to Cpl Dane Marie Marshall – Human Trafficking who was able to secure the first ever conviction for human trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago.
The 16-year-old teenager said she was forced into prostitution, in a case where Anthony Smith became the first person convicted for human trafficking in T&T.
Smith, who escaped two days after the trial began after breaking free of his electronic bracelet monitor, was sentenced to 15 years on each count of the charges, with the sentences to run concurrently and to begin on his arrest.
She spoke to the hosts of the Power Breakfast Show this morning and said that in her investigations she found that the victim believed that she was connected romantically to her trafficker.
During her testimony, the victim claimed her last client was a police officer and that other officers were clients of Smith she encountered during the time she was forced to commit sexual acts for payment.
However, Marshall said that during their investigations they did not find this to be true.