Today we learned about a 60 year old - who's facing human trafficking charges for prostituting a 17 year old girl he brought over from Melchor.
60 year-old Valentine Pop, a resident of Cool Shade Farm in More Tomorrow Village, is facing 2 counts of human trafficking, for which he was remanded at the Belize Central Prison. But, but as soon as he is able to make the necessary arrangements, he'll be released on Supreme Court bail.
That's after his attorney, Bryan Neal, applied before Justice Antoinette Moore for bail consideration. After hearing from both Neal and Senior Crown Counsel Sheneiza Smith, Justice Moore offered him bail of $10,000. He has not been able to meet it, and he will be sent back to prison until he can do so.
The complainant, a 17 year-old Guatemalan girl, reported to police that Pop brought her from Melchor, and he allowed her to live with him at the Cool Shade Farm. She said that Pop collected money from a man, who he allowed to have sex with her between June 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015, and on other occasions between May 1, 2016, and February 28, 2017.
She told the cops that she became pregnant, and Pop sent a woman she didn't know to perform an abortion on her. The 17 year-old said that it couldn't happen because the fetus was already too large. She then managed to escape from the farm, which is when she sought police for help.
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