Venezeulan woman, Chinese man freed of 42 sex charges

A couple, held in one of the largest sex-ring sting operations by police in Westmoorings in 2019, has been freed of multiple counts of keeping a brothel and aiding and abetting prostitution.

Soleith Samir Torres, alias Queen, 23, of Venezuela and her China-born, Guyana-raised boyfriend Jinfu Zhu, were before Port of Spain magistrate Adia Mohammed when assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal admitted the prosecution could no longer make out a prima facie case against the two for the sexual-offences charges.

Dougdeen-Jaglal’s concession came after the magistrate ruled against an application to have the witness statements of four Venezuelan women tendered into evidence since they were no longer in Trinidad, having returned to their homeland, and it was not “reasonably practicable” to bring them to court for their testimony.

Torres and Zhu, however, were committed to stand trial on one count of money laundering laid under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Torres faced 44 charges in all – 23 for keeping a brothel, 20 for aiding and abetting prostitution and the single count of money laundering while Zhu faced 23 charges of keeping a brothel and a single money laundering charge.

The two were held at a house at Western Circle, Westmoorings, on February 4, 2019. Also in the house were four Venezuelan women.

According to a summary of the prosecution’s evidence, a mini ziplock bag with 16 strawberry textured heart-shaped candy tablets was round in a walk-in closet in the master bedroom along with TT$80,000; US$2,393; EC$40; Jca$2,000; $20,000 bolivars; $1 yen; Bdos$100; $595 Surinamese currency.

Several documents and notebooks were also seized. The two were taken to the Four Roads police station where they were interviewed. It was alleged the four women were brought to Trinidad for prostitution and they were made to have sex with Chinese “clients” at the house in Westmoorings, under the direction and instruction of the couple.

The prosecution alleged that Torres would prepare meals for the women while arranging taxi services for them to visit their “clients.”

The summary of evidence alleged that the money the women earned, would be given to the couple.

Both the couple and the Venezuelan women were said to be in TT illegally, although Torres, the court was told, was under an order of supervision from the immigration division.

The preliminary inquiry against the two started on September 5, 2022, when Dougdeen-Jaglal applied to have the women’s statements tendered into evidence to support the prosecution’s case for the sexual offences charges.

Defence attorneys Chase Pegus and Danyal Mohammed, for Torres, and Taradath Singh for Zhu, objected on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish that the women were not in the country and failed to show it was not reasonably practicable to secure their attendance in court. It was also argued that the State was responsible for the witnesses leaving the country since they were allowed to return to Venezuela on the condition they would return to Trinidad to give evidence when the matter was fixed for hearing.

It was revealed that although the four were found to have entered the country illegally, they were not charged in relation to that but had asked to return to Venezuela, which was allowed on the condition they return to give testimony against the couple.

In ruling on the application, Mohammed agreed with the submissions of the defence, refusing to allow the State to use the women’s statements to support their case against the charges.

This led to the concession by the State that without the statements, the prosecution could not make out its case for the offences under the Sexual Offences Act.

Mohammed then discharged the couple on those charges.

In March, a similar application was made by the State in a human-trafficking case involving four men who were alleged to have forced a Venezuelan minor into prostitution. That application was also dismissed after the presiding magistrate, Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle, held that the prosecution’s steps to locate the witness fell woefully short of what was reasonable. “The investigations were inadequate and unacceptable. Thus the prosecution has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that all reasonable steps were taken to locate this witness.” Earle-Caddle said while not “all” steps needed to be taken to locate the witness, “reasonable” ones were anticipated in the quest to find her. Her ruling was released by the Judiciary on Wednesday to provide the public with the magistrate's reasons for discharging the four men.