After a mother found ads online advertising her teenager’s sexual services, a man and a woman have just been found guilty of pimping.
The then 17-year-old victim had never engaged in prostitution before 2018. But when she met Jeffrey Audet and Evlyne Lamer at a motel while on the run, they quickly asked her to have sex with customers to make a quick buck.
She initially refused, saying it was too embarrassing for her, but then changed her mind. For more than a week, the young woman believes she has had “at least 15 customers.” She was never forced, it was voluntary, as she indicated in the trial.
But she was only 17 and the defendant knew her age. And it is forbidden to persuade a minor victim to offer sexual services for money, judge Antoine Piché reminded her in a recent ruling and sentenced her.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
Jeffrey Audet during his trial at the Montreal courthouse last April. PIERRE-PAUL POULIN/LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI
“The fact that the minor voluntarily agrees to provide sexual services does not change the matter. […] “Society cannot tolerate the naivety and immaturity of young people being used to encourage minors to provide sexual services for payment,” the judge wrote.
“Not a newbie anymore”
Accordingly, without the defendant’s intervention, the teenager, whose identity is protected, would never have been initiated into prostitution, “at least not at the exact moment she started doing it.”
Evlyne Lamer, who was involved in prostitution, and Jeffrey Audet, her boyfriend at the time, taught her how selling sexual services worked. The woman took the teenager’s photos to publish on escort sites, and the man found her first customer. They also managed announcements and customer inquiries.
After each service offered, teenager Audet had to give 50% of her earnings in return for “protection.”
After a few days, the defendants even agreed to raise their prices “since she wasn’t the one.”[était] no longer a newbie.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
Evlyne Lamer, at the Montreal courthouse last April. PIERRE-PAUL POULIN/LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI
They were already planning projects with her and promised to take her to high-dollar events such as Formula 1 in Montreal or the St-Tite Western Festival.
Found through a phone call
On June 9, 2018, the young woman arranged to meet Mario. She believed he was interested in obtaining sexual favors. But it was rather an investigator from the Longueuil municipal police who picked her up.
Thanks to her mother’s vigilance, she was found.
The teenager had previously called her from the defendant’s phone. Since the mother didn’t recognize the number, she looked for it in a search engine. She then came across pictures of her child in underwear posted in advertisements for sexual services. She immediately called the police.
At his trial, Jeffrey Audet denied everything, but the judge didn’t believe him. He and Evlyne Lamer were found guilty of soliciting a minor to provide sexual services and advertising his services. Audet was also found guilty of obtaining financial advantage.
They return next week for further procedures.
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