ALIFAX — A young gang member who forced a 14-year-old Halifax girl into prostitution was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for human trafficking and sexual assault.
Owen Ross Gibson-Skeir, 21, was arrested a year ago in Halifax and pleaded guilty in December to three charges.
When he was charged, an investigator said it had been decades since such a young victim of prostitution had come forward to seek help from police.
"Human trafficking is a combination of physical and emotional torture," Crown attorney Catherine Cogswell told court Friday.
"How does a person recover from being bought and sold and emotionally, physically and sexually tortured? I'm not sure. But I do have hope for the young women coming forward now."
Judge Claudine MacDonald handed down the sentence in Halifax provincial court, saying the man would have received a longer sentence had he not pleaded guilty to the most serious charges.
"In terms of the degree of violence, threatening behaviour and the effort you took to maintain control over this child, this is a significant aggravating factor," MacDonald said to Gibson-Skeir.
"What is remarkable here is that despite everything that this child endured ... as a result of your actions, somehow she was able to summon the inner strength and resoluteness of will ... and free herself from your control."
Outside court, Cogswell said the conviction and sentencing was a first for Nova Scotia under the federal human trafficking law introduced by the previous Conservative government in 2014. That version of Canada's law on prostitution includes a mandatory-minimum sentence of five years for those convicted of prostituting anyone under 18.
"A joint recommendation (from the Crown and defence lawyers) for seven years sends a message," Cogswell said outside court. "It sends a message to those who would sell the sexual services of children that we take it very seriously and we will impose significant sentences."
Cogswell paid tribute to the vice squad police officers who have been working for years to build trusting relationships with the youngest of the city's sex trade workers.
"It's been many years of investment by the vice unit," she said. "Their investment ... is now coming to fruition in term of criminal charges."
Gibson-Skeir declined to say anything when asked if he would like to address the court.
Police said that after his arrest, Gibson-Skeir described himself as a pimp who belonged to the "Blood Gang" in East Preston, a half-hour drive east of Halifax.
Court heard he had a rough upbringing before he was sent to a foster home and later adopted as a young boy. The Crown said he started smoking marijuana and hanging out with men in their 20s when he was 12 years old. His criminal record includes 59 convictions as a young offender and an adult.
His sentence was reduced to five years and six months to account for pre-trial custody.
