Sex slaves: Brothel owner jailed

2006-06-09 08:25

Melbourne - An Australian brothel owner was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for keeping five Thai women as sex slaves.

A Victorian County Court jury on Friday found Wei Tang, 44, guilty of five charges of possessing a slave and five counts of using a slave. Judge Michael McInerney sentenced her to 10 years in prison, with a minimum six-year term.

Tang, who had pleaded innocent to all charges, was one of the first people charged under Australia's anti-slavery laws introduced in 1999.

During the eight-week trial, prosecutors alleged the women were brought from Thailand to the southern city of Melbourne with the promise they would be able to work legally in the sex trade and send money home to their families. Prostitution is legal in Australia in limited circumstances.

But the women were told they first had to work off a debt of A$45 000 each by performing sex acts for no pay for six days a week, prosecutors said.

The victims, who cannot be identified, had their passports and return airline tickets taken from them and were forced to perform between 800 and 900 unpaid sex acts between August 2002 and May 2003, prosecutors said.

Judge McInerney said that while the women were not locked up, they were effectively enslaved by their lack of money, passports and English skills.

Tang had faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in jail, but the judge said he took into account Tang's lack of prior convictions and the fact that the women were well fed.

- AP