Victim Lays Out Emotional Toll Of Pimp's Abuse In Underage Prostitution Ring

After systematically detailing the emotional and physical pain he's suffered from being prostituted as a 16-year-old, the slim young man in the sharp grey suit turned to the man responsible and said something unexpected.

"I hope that when Matt [a pseudonym for Michael Bannon] gets out, he's able to get help," the young man told a sentencing hearing in Vancouver on Wednesday.

"He should know that he has potential, just like everyone else does."Bannon, 35, pleaded guilty last week to 22 charges related to an extensive underage prostitution ring he operated out of Vancouver hotel rooms and apartments for a few months in 2014 and 2015.

Defence and Crown lawyers told a B.C. Supreme Court justice Wednesday that Bannon should serve 14 years behind bars.

bit.ly/2Rz1KmO via @CBCNews

Two Vancouver Men Convicted Of Human Trafficking And Pimping Crimes

Two Vancouver men have been convicted of multiple counts of human trafficking and pimping-related offences involving their exploitation of three young women, one of them an underage girl.

Tamim Albashir, 26, and Kasra Mohsenipour, 25, were found guilty of 17 of 19 charges in connection with offences committed against the victims in Vancouver, Coquitlam and Edmonton. The crimes occurred from May 2013 to April 2016.

The accused were also convicted of attempting to obstruct justice by conspiring to influence, pressure, or bribe one of the victims in an effort to get her to recant her statement to the police.

In his ruling, B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Masuhara concluded that the accused had acted in a “common enterprise” to lure the victims into prostitution.

bit.ly/2TtmI3H via @VancouverSun