A woman forced into prostitution by a pimp would also have been betrayed by her confidante and neighbor, who would have become her executioner’s accomplice.
On two occasions, in 2019 and 2020, Joanne Gagné worked with police to denounce the violence her neighbor and friend suffered at the hands of Erickson Angibeau.
But in an unexpected turn of events, Ms Gagné, 42, now finds herself among the accused. She is currently on trial with Angibeau for profiting significantly from the alleged victim’s sexual services and for attempting to obstruct the legal process by urging him to drop his complaint against the “man”.
For his part, Erickson Angibeau faces charges of human trafficking, pimping, assault, threats and material gain from the fruits of prostitution.
Erickson Angibeau was arrested by the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Department last year and faces charges of human trafficking and pimping
The alleged victim was allegedly forced into prostitution for nearly a year and a half, mostly in Ontario.
“He was in control of everything I did, in control of everything, with clients, with my family,” testified the 31-year-old woman, whose identity is protected.
She was able to bring in up to 10 clients per day, which made her between $1000 and $3000. But she never saw the color of that money, Angibeau also controlled all her finances, she added. Joanne Gagné probably knew that her neighbor was being exploited.
“She told me she worked all month, Erickson slapped her in the face to wake her up and get clients. She told me that Erickson put her speedgel in her mouth to wake her up. He threw glasses of water in her face to wake her up,” defendant Gagné wrote in a statement to the Sûreté du Québec in October 2019, following an incident of violence suffered by her neighbor.
In a second statement from January 2020, Ms Gagné presented herself as the alleged victim’s “best friend”.
“I noticed that very quickly [Angibeau] was actually her pimp […]that he is very controlling, possessive and very aggressive towards [elle] “, She wrote.
But a few weeks later, he would have switched sides and become complicated with Angibeau. According to the denunciation file, the alleged facts would have started on March 1, 2020.
The trial will continue at Longueuil Courthouse before Judge Christian Jarry.
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