Australia : Court told of bonded sex slaves in Braddon flat

Court told of bonded sex slaves in Braddon flat
NOEL TOWELL
17 Apr, 2010

A man who allegedly helped keep Thai women as sex slaves in unlicensed brothels in Canberra's inner-north is also accused of raping one of the ''bonded'' prostitutes.Robert Phillip Dick is facing charges in the ACT Magistrates Court of helping his Thai partner, Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, run the illegal sex-for-sale service from two Braddon apartments in 2007, using women from Thailand.

The 55-year-old Victorian, also known as Uncle and Bobo, and who claims to have a terminal illness, has pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting Nantahkhum in the operation of the illegal brothels and charges of raping and committing an act of indecency on one of the sex workers.

Nantahkhum, a 42-year-old Kambah woman, has been charged with possessing a slave, debt bondage and operating a brothel unlawfully.

Dick's alleged victim, a young Thai woman, whose identity has been suppressed by the court, told police she was brought to Australia from Thailand on a visitor's visa and then told she owed Nantahkhum the ''mother of the sex contract'' $43,000 which had to be repaid by having sex with men in Canberra for money.

A police statement of facts tendered to the court said that young women were routinely placed on such ''contracts'' by trafficking gangs.

''On recruitment in Thailand, women are placed on a contract to repay amounts between $40,000 and $50,000,'' the statement said.

''These contracts are manifestly excessive, as the flight and arrangements do not cost more than $2500.''

According to Federal Police, the young woman was not paid for her work as a prostitute, her passport was taken by Nantahkhum on the day she arrived in the country and she was not allowed to leave the Torrens Street apartment unless accompanied by Dick.

She also alleged she was raped by Dick just days after she arrived in the country in June 2007 and that the ''minder'' carried out two further sexual assaults on her later that year.

canberratimes.com.au

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mid

Nantahkhum, ....... has been charged with possessing a slave

---

That's illegal now?

Bloody pc nutters

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mid

She also alleged she was raped by Dick just days after she arrived

---

By who else?

What an unforunate name to have in his predicament :)

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...ecasts%7E0.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirtydog

What an unforunate name to have in his predicament

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mid

Robert

---

:confused:

Judge : 'please rise Dick'...

.Robert Phillip Dick

Yes, crippen . . . I did understand the humour . . . :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mid

Nantahkhum, a 42-year-old Kambah woman

---

Fok me, kambah is my hood. Not a big place, everyone knows everyone. I'll ask me old lady if she got the inside scoop.

Bob Dick for short.....probably at school he was known simply as BobCock.....hmmmm

Yup, hilarious.

Accused denies rape claims
Louis Andrews
February 25, 2012

A Melbourne man accused of raping a Thai sex worker told police he wanted to have consensual sex with her but was concerned she felt obligated to agree.

Robert Phillip Dick told investigators the woman gave him a massage, arousing him, but he abandoned his desires because ''I thought it was the wrong thing to do''.

The 58-year-old is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court, having pleaded not guilty to twice having sex with her without consent and one charge of committing an act of indecency.

In mid-2007, when the alleged assaults occurred, the alleged victim had recently arrived in Australia to work as a prostitute.

Dick, also known as ''Bobo'' or ''Uncle'', was a friend of the woman who arranged for the complainant to travel from Thailand.

In a recorded interview with police, Dick said he collected her from the Canberra Airport and took her back to an apartment complex in Braddon. He said she willingly came to Australia to work in the sex business, and he believed she paid her own way.

But the complainant had previously told the jury her flight was paid for and a portion of her earnings taken to cover the debt incurred.

She said her passport was taken from her, but Dick told police he believed she kept it, and described watching her use it to do banking.

The defendant denied any sexual interaction with the woman except for one occasion when she gave him a massage, but he said he stopped before having sex with her.

''I was aroused, she was willing … and I thought it was the wrong thing to do,'' he said.

''I thought it was morally wrong, taking advantage of someone who thought that she had no other choice.''

He admitted using a sex toy on the woman during the incident but maintained that it was consensual.

The trial before Justice Richard Refshauge continues on Monday.

canberratimes.com.au

'Slave' serviced hundreds of clients, court told
Louis Andrews
March 30, 2012

A Thai sex worker allegedly brought into the country and held as a slave had to service more than 700 clients before she paid off a $43,000 debt, a court has heard.

The Kambah woman accused of bringing her to Australia from Thailand to illegally work in the sex trade is now standing trial in the ACT Supreme Court.

But Watcharaporn Nantahkhum has pleaded not guilty to all six charges before the court.

Her barrister has urged the jurors to keep open minds about the case despite the fact it centred on Canberra's ''somewhat infamous sex industry''.

The accused woman has been charged with slavery, perverting the course of justice and offences under the federal Migration Act.

They include allowing an unlawful non-citizen to work in conditions of exploitation and allowing a non-citizen to work in breach of a visa condition.

The allegations relate to two Thai women, who cannot be named, who travelled to Australia on tourist visas in 2007 knowingly to work as prostitutes.

It is alleged Nantahkhum employed the pair who worked and lived out of an apartment she rented in Braddon.

The 45-year-old has been charged with possessing one of the two women as a slave.

Commonwealth prosecutor Sara Cronan said the accused told the woman where to work, where to live, what to wear, what to eat, what hours to work and what medication to take.

''There was really, around this period, no aspect of [the woman's life] that wasn't controlled by the accused - totally controlled by the accused,'' Ms Cronan said.

The Crown has alleged the woman's earnings were taken to pay off a $43,000 debt.

The court heard she cleared the debt between her arrival in mid-2007 and October, by which point she had serviced ''well over 700'' men.

But the prosecutor told the jury it would be up to them to distinguish between harsh and exploitative employment conditions and slavery.

Nantahkhum's lawyer, James Sabharwal, reminded the jury the Crown carried the burden of proving the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

''This trial, as the Crown prosecutor referred to, is somewhat unusual,'' Mr Sabharwal said. ''It centres on Canberra's somewhat infamous sex industry.''

''Can I just say that this is not the place to express any moral censures about the activities that inevitably are linked to the charges in this trial?''

Two former clients of Nantahkhum spoke yesterday of helping the woman find and rent apartments in the capital, and also meeting some of her alleged employees.

One said one of the complainants expressed unhappiness about her working relationship with Nantahkhum months after she first arrived in Canberra.

The court heard the woman told him her boss had decided to take $200 from her every day regardless of whether she worked.

''She thought it was too much, and she wanted to move out and work for herself,'' the witness said.

The second former client described receiving phone messages from Nantahkhum in mid-2008.

By that time the alleged victims had overstayed their tourist visas, left the accused's employ and subsequently been picked up by police and immigration authorities.

The witness said Nantahkhum explained she was in a lot of trouble and asked for $10,000 to send one of the women back to Thailand.

But the court heard his initial statement to police made no mention of Nantahkhum saying she was in trouble, only that she needed the money to repatriate the woman.

The trial continues.

canberratimes.com.au

'Rice fields to slavery'
March 30, 2012

A Bangkok-based tourism company was at the centre of scheme to transport Thai women to work in the Australian sex industry illegally, a court has heard.

And a former Thai cosmetic saleswoman allegedly held a slave in a Canberra brothel says turned to prostitution to help put her son through school and pay off the mortgage on her family’s rice field.

A Kambah woman is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court accused of offences under the federal Migration Act, perverting the course of justice and possessing the woman as a slave.

But Watcharaporn Nantahkhum has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and her lawyer has urged the jury to keep an open mind.

The charges relate to two Thai women employed by the 45-year-old to work as prostitutes servicing clients out of apartments in Braddon in 2007.

The women cannot be named for legal reasons.

The first complainant, who arrived in Australia in June 2007, this afternoon told the court she was driven to prostitution by financial woes back home.

The witness said she met a woman who told her there was money to be made in Australia’s sex industry and put her in touch with someone who could facilitate the move.

“I was interested because I thought I would be able to make a lot of money,” the woman said.

The Crown has alleged the woman’s wages were taken to pay off a $43,000 debt owed to those who arranged the journey.

And the court yesterday heard while the alleged victim was initially told she would service no more than three or four men each day there were times when she would see as many as 14 clients.

Daniel Tom, a former staffer with the Australian embassy in Bangkok, conducted immigration records checks on the women after they were arrested in 2008.

He said the first woman applied for a tourist visa in May 2007.

Mr Tom explained immigration authorities generally wanted to be satisfied a prospective tourist had stable employment in their home country and funds to support themselves.

The court heard the woman’s application was backed up by bank statements, travel documents and paperwork related to P&S.

The documents alleged the woman was a shareholder and director of the company.

But the woman overstayed her visa and when the Department of Immigration and Citizenship began investigating, it was revealed she had been removed from the company documents.

It is alleged the operator of P&S, a man referred to as “Koi”, fraudulently added the woman to company registers and helped her to obtain the visa.

Likewise the alleged victim’s three-month visa was approved after officials were satisfied she was a marketing manager with P&S.

But again when investigators started looking into the matter they found she was no longer listed with the company.

The trial before Justice Richard Refshauge continues on Monday.

canberratimes.com.au

Slave trial hears of secret tapings
Louis Andrews
April 5, 2012

A Thai sex worker allegedly held as a slave in Canberra brothels confronted her former employer in two fiery, secretly taped phone conversations, a court has heard.

But alleged brothel madam Watcharaporn Nantahkhum accused the complainant of lying and said, ''nobody tricked you to come here''.

Nantahkhum has pleaded not guilty to possessing a slave, perverting the course of justice and four offences under the federal Migration Act.

The charges relate to two Thai women, who cannot be named, working as prostitutes in mid-2007 from Braddon premises rented by Nantahkhum.

It is alleged Nantahkhum allowed them to work in Australia in breach of the conditions of their tourist visas, and well after their visas had expired.

The 45-year-old Kambah woman is standing trial in the ACT Supreme Court, and the jury yesterday heard transcripts of telephone calls recorded by police without the defendant's knowledge.

In June 2008, after leaving Nantahkhum's alleged employ, one of the two women - the alleged victim of the slavery charge - was detained at Villawood Detention Centre.

She subsequently gave a statement to officers from the Australian Federal Police's human trafficking team and agreed to call Nantahkhum, allegedly also known as ''Pee Tuu'' or ''Tuu''.

During a phone call on July 16 the woman pretended to have returned to Thailand as part of a police subterfuge.

The call was translated from Thai, transcribed and read to the jury yesterday.

Woman: ''I came back and told my older brother. He is very angry and he wants to go to report it to the embassy.''

Tuu: ''Report about what?''

Woman: ''Many things that happened in the past, about too much work that I had to do and about too much debt that I had to pay.''

Tuu: ''Oh, are you going to play with me like this?''

Woman: ''I do not know. You did it to me first.''

The alleged victim accused Nantahkhum of telling her she would be servicing three or four clients a day ''but it turned out to be 10''.

Tuu: ''Were you willing to do that?''

Woman: ''That was right because once I arrived, I had to do it.'' Tuu: ''Did I force you?'' Woman: ''Once I had arrived I had to do it.'' Tuu: ''Did I force you?'' Woman: ''Once I arrived I had to do it. You did it to me. I do not understand why you had to do what you did to me.''

Nantahkhum denied refusing the complainant permission to see a doctor and argued she came to Australia of her own volition.

''From what you have got, I really wish that you will be ruined and wrecked for what you are thinking like this about me,'' the accused said during the conversation.

In a second conversation the defendant told the woman the police would never believe her, and threatened to ''countersue'' for ''talking about me like this''.

Police also recorded Nantahkhum speaking to her sister, Aneknun Nantahkhum, about the allegations on several occasions.

The court has heard Aneknun Nantahkhum ran a Bangkok massage parlour and facilitated the entry of the two women to Australia on fraudulently obtained visas.

During the telephone conversations the sisters accused the alleged victim of lying.

The alleged victim has previously told the court Nantahkhum offered her the money after she was detained at Villawood to keep her mouth shut and return to Thailand.

The trial before Justice Richard Refshauge continues today.

canberratimes.com.au

Final submissions in sex worker slave case
Elizabeth Byrne
April 10, 2012

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/04/954.jpg
Watcharaporn Nantahkhum is accused of possessing a slave.
(ABC News: Gordon Taylor)

An ACT Supreme Court jury has been urged to weigh carefully evidence against a woman accused of keeping a Thai sex worker as a slave in a Canberra brothel.

Kambah woman Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, 45, is on trial for possessing a slave, exploiting a non-citizen, and perverting the course of justice.

The case against her has wrapped up, with final submissions from both sides.

The prosecution has told the jury the alleged victim was brought to Australia after agreeing to work in the sex industry.

But the jury heard once she was in Canberra, every aspect of her life was controlled by Nantukhum who took her passport, and required her to see clients at all hours.

The jury was also told once the victim had been put in the Villawood Detention Centre, Nantahkhum offered her money to keep quiet.

But the defence has told the jury that the alleged victim had come to Australia with the sole intention of making money, and that the evidence suggests she was not the naive person she presented.

xxx.xxx.xx

Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

Louis Andrews

April 11, 2012 - 12:53PM
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/04/988.jpg
Watcharaporn Nantahkhum was found guilty on all charges. Photo: Gary Schafer

A Kambah woman has been found guilty of possessing a Thai sex worker as a slave.

A guilty verdict was returned on all charges against 45-year-old Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, including intentionally possessing a slave, attempting to pervert the course of justice and four offences under the Migration Act.

The jury reached the verdict after hearing eight days of evidence and submissions.

The verdict, barring any appeal, brings to a close the first slavery prosecution heard in a Canberra court. It is also the first time the Migration Act offences have been contested in an Australian court.

Nantahkhum now faces a 25 year jail sentence on the slavery charge. Justice Richard Refshauge has revoked the woman's bail after the crown raised fears she would go on the run in the face of a looming prison sentence.

The charges related to two Thai women brought to Australia in mid 2007 to work as prostitutes out of Braddon premises rented by Nantahkhum.

The crown argued one of the women - the subject of the slavery charge - was left isolated and vulnerable in a foreign land with no money, leaving her no choice but to submit to slavery.

The woman said her passport was taken from her and she was initially denied a key to the premises. The court also heard her earnings were taken to pay off a $43,000 debt owed to Nantahkhum and those who facilitated her arrival in Australia.

A detailed ledger she kept of her client numbers and her finances revealed she serviced more than 720 clients in three and a half months to clear the debt.

During the trial the court was told the woman rarely left the apartment in her first month in Canberra, and had to seek Nantahkhum's permission before doing so.

Commonwealth prosecutor Sara Cronan, in her closing address to the jury yesterday, said there was "really no aspect" of the woman's life that wasn't controlled by the accused.

But Nantahkhum's legal team argued their client's accuser was a mercenary, only out to make money. They disputed her account of having her passport taken and being denied a key.

The defence noted the woman agreed to have sex with a man for money on her first night in Australia.

Barrister James Sabharwal suggested the alleged victim wanted revenge against Nantahkhum, who she "100 per cent" believed had dobbed her in to immigration authorities.

Nantahkhum sat still with her head bowed as a Thai interpreter communicated the jury's verdicts.

She was lead from the courtroom in handcuffs, and is expected to remain in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre until a sentencing hearing in May.



Read more: Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

Louis Andrews

April 11, 2012 - 12:53PM
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/04/988.jpg
Watcharaporn Nantahkhum was found guilty on all charges. Photo: Gary Schafer

A Kambah woman has been found guilty of possessing a Thai sex worker as a slave.

A guilty verdict was returned on all charges against 45-year-old Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, including intentionally possessing a slave, attempting to pervert the course of justice and four offences under the Migration Act.

The jury reached the verdict after hearing eight days of evidence and submissions.

The verdict, barring any appeal, brings to a close the first slavery prosecution heard in a Canberra court. It is also the first time the Migration Act offences have been contested in an Australian court.

Nantahkhum now faces a 25 year jail sentence on the slavery charge. Justice Richard Refshauge has revoked the woman's bail after the crown raised fears she would go on the run in the face of a looming prison sentence.

The charges related to two Thai women brought to Australia in mid 2007 to work as prostitutes out of Braddon premises rented by Nantahkhum.

The crown argued one of the women - the subject of the slavery charge - was left isolated and vulnerable in a foreign land with no money, leaving her no choice but to submit to slavery.

The woman said her passport was taken from her and she was initially denied a key to the premises. The court also heard her earnings were taken to pay off a $43,000 debt owed to Nantahkhum and those who facilitated her arrival in Australia.

A detailed ledger she kept of her client numbers and her finances revealed she serviced more than 720 clients in three and a half months to clear the debt.

During the trial the court was told the woman rarely left the apartment in her first month in Canberra, and had to seek Nantahkhum's permission before doing so.

Commonwealth prosecutor Sara Cronan, in her closing address to the jury yesterday, said there was "really no aspect" of the woman's life that wasn't controlled by the accused.

But Nantahkhum's legal team argued their client's accuser was a mercenary, only out to make money. They disputed her account of having her passport taken and being denied a key.

The defence noted the woman agreed to have sex with a man for money on her first night in Australia.

Barrister James Sabharwal suggested the alleged victim wanted revenge against Nantahkhum, who she "100 per cent" believed had dobbed her in to immigration authorities.

Nantahkhum sat still with her head bowed as a Thai interpreter communicated the jury's verdicts.

She was lead from the courtroom in handcuffs, and is expected to remain in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre until a sentencing hearing in May.



Read more: Brothel madam guilty of keeping Thai sex worker as slave

---

.....

Sex slave keeper's tragic history revealed
Louis Andrews
May 19, 2012

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/05/1795.jpg
Watcharaporn Nantahkhum.
Photo: Gary Schafer

A devout Buddhist who kept a Thai woman as a slave in a Canberra brothel herself came to Australia to work in the sex industry and help her family pay their debts.

The circumstances which drove Watcharaporn Nantahkhum into the sex industry were similar to those which motivated the victim she ended up exploiting, court documents show.

Earlier this year, the 45-year-old became the first person found guilty in the ACT for possessing a slave.

She will learn her fate on Thursday, when Justice Richard Refshauge hands down his sentence in the Supreme Court.

A pre-sentence report tendered in court yesterday reveals parallels between the woman's life in her home country of Thailand and that of her victim. With her father dead and her mother facing debt trouble in Thailand, Nantahkhum arranged to travel to Australia and work in a brothel and send money home.

Likewise, her victim was brought to Australia willingly to work in the sex industry after her father's demise.

The woman, whose name has been suppressed, wanted to make enough money to help her mother pay the mortgage on the family's rice field and put her son through school.

Instead she found herself isolated, controlled and raped by an associate of Nantahkhum's, Robert Phillip Dick.

Sentencing proceedings against Dick are afoot in the Supreme Court.

A jury last month took about two hours to find Nantahkhum guilty of intentionally possessing a slave and attempting to pervert the course of justice by offering her a 500,000 Thai baht (then about $16,000) bribe to keep quiet and return home.

During the trial, Commonwealth prosecutor Sara Cronan argued there was virtually no aspect of the victim's life Nantahkhum didn't control.

The victim serviced more than 700 clients before she paid off the $43,000 debt owed to the people who had facilitated her arrival in Australia.

But the woman's lawyers suggested their client's accuser was a mercenary with an axe to grind against Nantahkhum.

Nantahkhum was also found guilty of four Migration Act offences, ranging from allowing a non-citizen to work in breach of a visa condition and allowing an unlawful non-citizen to work in conditions of exploitation.

At a sentencing proceeding yesterday Ms Cronan said the defendant, who is in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, was motivated purely by greed. ''She chose very deliberately, on the evidence in the trial, not to work herself but to exploit [the victim] in the way that she did,'' Ms Cronan said.

Nantahkhum worked as a prostitute in Australia before becoming a licenced sole operator in the ACT.

The prosecutor also said Nantahkhum made a lot of money from the victim, claiming almost all her earnings until the $43,000 was paid off and subsequently taking a portion.

Defence barrister James Sabharwal said prison would be hard for his client, who speaks little English and whose family in Thailand are unlikely to be able to visit. He also said Nantahkhum, who has no criminal history, had good prospects for rehabilitation but was likely to be deported after her eventual release.

The slavery offence carries a maximum penalty of 25 years.

The case has been likened to the Victorian prosecution of a woman, DS, for her role in a scheme bringing Thai women to work in licenced Sydney and Melbourne brothels.

DS was initially jailed for nine years with a non-parole of three, later reduced to six to serve 2½ on appeal.

canberratimes.com.au

Reduced jail sentence for Canberra brothel madam
Ewan Gilbert

A Canberra brothel madam who kept a Thai woman as a sex slave has had her jail sentence cut after an appeal.

In 2012 Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, 46, was found guilty by a jury of six charges including that she had kept one of her employees as a slave.

The victim had been recruited from Thailand and was made to service almost 700 clients to pay off a $43,000 debt.

Nantahkum was also found guilty of offences against a second woman.

She was sentenced to eight years and 10 months in jail, but she quickly appealed the severity of the sentence and today she won.

The ACT Court of Appeal cut her sentence by two years and dropped her non-parole period by more than a year.

She will now be eligible for parole in late 2015.

xxx.xxx.xx

Will she be deported?

She's a convict, she'll blend in.