Shop keeper Ann Marie Carter, accused of forcing two girls into prostitution in the Tiger Creek Backdam, in Region Seven, was yesterday arraigned on charges of trafficking the girls for sexual exploitation.
Carter was refused bail by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, who read the charges to her at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It was alleged that Carter, of 84 First Avenue, Bartica, harboured the girls for the purpose of trafficking for sexual exploitation between March 28 and April 22, 2013, at Tiger Creek, Puruni.
Carter’s arrest stems from the rescue of four girls, ages 14, 15, 17 and 18, who were rescued from the Tiger Creek area by members of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO). She is the second person to be charged as a result of the rescue, after charges were laid against Police Corporal Huford David in April for taking the 14-year-old girl into Region Seven to be a sex worker.
The court heard from Prosecutor Vernette Pindar that the prosecution’s case rests on allegations that the accused had recruited the girls on the understanding that they will run her shop.
Pindar said Carter subsequently transported the girls to another location where they were told to have sex for money. They were later found by members of the GWMO.
The prosecutor objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the offence alleged.
After hearing the case, the magistrate remanded Carter to prison and transferred the matter to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for July 5.
David, 36, of Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice, pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that between January 1 and January 31, 2013, at Kumakuma Creek, Mazaruni River, he kept the girl for the purpose of exploitation.
At David’s arraignment, the court heard that he allegedly took the girl to Kumakuma Creek, and informed her that she would collect gold and money and give it to the shopkeeper, who was identified as ‘Rankin.’
The court was told that as a result of nine sexual encounters, the girl accumulated gold and which she later gave to the shopkeeper. A few days later, the girl insisted on having her gold and money but the shopkeeper told her that he did not have it, while David told her that he did not have either.
The girl later escaped and made a report to the GWMO, following which investigations were launched into the matter and David was located, arrested and charged. David was remanded to prison.
