Auckland pair pimp out underage girl
AUCKLAND: Police were alerted to a couple pimping out a 15yearold after the girl’s mother discovered on social media she had been flown from Christchurch to work in central Auckland brothels.
Taton Sebastian Smith (35) and Tahleicia Elizabeth Seil (25) were sentenced last Friday in the Auckland District Court by Judge Eddie Paul for assisting someone under 18 to provide sexual services.
Smith was jailed for two years and 10 months, while Seil will serve nine months’ home detention after they had earlier pleaded guilty.
Both also were also sentenced for profiting from the activity, and Smith for having sex with a person aged 12 to 16.
The couple, who were in a relationship, were operating an internet escort agency from at least the start of 2014 from several central Auckland properties, court documents show.
At the beginning of June 2016, Smith and Seil identified a 15yearold girl living in Christchurch as someone to work for them.
A sex worker employed by Smith and Seil first established the contact between the teen and the pair. Smith and Seil then arranged and paid for her to fly from Christchurch to Auckland and begin working in their central city brothels.
The girl told the couple she was 16 or 17.
After collecting her from Auckland Airport, Smith drove her to a city apartment close to one of the brothels. He told her she would be ‘‘good at sex and perfect for sex work’’, court documents show.
Smith would later also have sex with the 15yearold, who was then advertised online.
Over the next four days the pair managed bookings for the teen via text and calls they received from their clients, and planned to take a third of the profits.
But on June 4, 2016, the teen’s mother discovered social media messages between her daughter and Smith and Seil and alerted police.
‘‘Fortunately police were notified by the person’s mother and they acted immediately,’’ Judge Paul said during Smith and Seil’s sentencing.
The teen was rescued from one of the brothels by police, who also arrested the couple.
Smith admitted to officers he had arranged the sexual services for the teen but said he did not know how old she was.
Seil also said she assumed the teen was at least 18.
However, Judge Paul was not convinced.
‘‘Both these defendants were well aware this girl was under 18 years old,’’ he said. They were ‘‘driven by greed’’ and the earnings they were going to make.
Judge Paul accepted the Crown’s argument Smith and Seil had ‘‘clearly planned and organised’’ to sexually exploit the vulnerable teen.
Detective Senior Sergeant Geoff Baber, of Auckland City police’s child abuse and sexual crimes unit, said there were underage sex workers in New Zealand.
‘‘There are reports that have been made to, and investigated by, police,’’ he said.
‘‘While we are unable to go into specific details around the methodology used in these types of investigations, police take any case involving the sexual exploitation of minors extremely seriously and we have a dedicated team of trained specialist staff who work in this sensitive area.’’
He said anyone who was aware of illegal activity involving underage sex workers should contact police.
In April this year, Kasmeer Lata was jailed for six years and 11 months for keeping her daughter as a sex slave, turning her Auckland home into a brothel and selling the 15yearold to men some 1000 times over a twoyear period.
Her partner, Avneensh Sehgal, who tried to flee to India, was also imprisoned. — NZME