An alleged pimp’s brother offered to pay a witness R2000 so she did not testify against him.
This was the evidence given yesterday in the East London Regional Court where Amajuoyi Chinemere Barthlomew is appearing for allegedly pimping underage girls from Gauteng in East London during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. He faces human trafficking charges.
Yesterday a young woman testified that Barthlomew was her boyfriend for three years, during which time she was a sex worker.
She cannot be named to protect her identity as a witness that has been warned under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The Act provides that a person implicated in a crime can avoid prosecution if they testify honestly as a state witness against their co-accused.
The woman told the court: “Another lady and Chinemere’s brother came to my home and told me to change my statement with police so that they would give me R2000, but I said no.”
She told the court that she came to East London in 2009, aged 16, and became a prostitute.
The woman said that when the two Gauteng teenagers came to the city in 2010, she was told to groom them to be sex workers, which she did. The women were then forced to become sex workers, she said.
She said despite being Barthlomew’s girlfriend, she was still required to work the streets and give the proceeds to him, in exchange for drugs.
“We never kept any of the money we made from clients. Instead, he gave us a small white tablet which we smoked,” she testified.
The state alleges that during May and June 2010 two girls – aged 16 and 15 – were offered by Barthlomew to men for compensation. The trial resumes today.
Trafficking accused’s girlfriend testifies
This was the evidence given yesterday in the East London Regional Court where Amajuoyi Chinemere Barthlomew is appearing for allegedly pimping underage girls from Gauteng in East London during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. He faces human trafficking charges.
Yesterday a young woman testified that Barthlomew was her boyfriend for three years, during which time she was a sex worker.
She cannot be named to protect her identity as a witness that has been warned under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The Act provides that a person implicated in a crime can avoid prosecution if they testify honestly as a state witness against their co-accused.
The woman told the court: “Another lady and Chinemere’s brother came to my home and told me to change my statement with police so that they would give me R2000, but I said no.”
She told the court that she came to East London in 2009, aged 16, and became a prostitute.
The woman said that when the two Gauteng teenagers came to the city in 2010, she was told to groom them to be sex workers, which she did. The women were then forced to become sex workers, she said.
She said despite being Barthlomew’s girlfriend, she was still required to work the streets and give the proceeds to him, in exchange for drugs.
“We never kept any of the money we made from clients. Instead, he gave us a small white tablet which we smoked,” she testified.
The state alleges that during May and June 2010 two girls – aged 16 and 15 – were offered by Barthlomew to men for compensation. The trial resumes today.
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