An Edmonton man who sex trafficked an underage girl has been sentenced to seven years behind bars.
Islam Montasser showed no reaction to the sentencing handed down by Court of King’s Bench Justice Steven Mandziuk on Tuesday, May 21st. The justice scolded the man for his crime with the intent of sending a message to those who choose to engage in human trafficking.
Montasser met the victim, who cannot be named under a publication ban on the social media platform Facebook in March of 2021 when she was 15.
Along with three other co-accused accomplices, Montasser enticed the girl to meet men for money on several occasions and admitted to groping the girl himself on one occasion.
When the girl tried to flee, she took an unidentified substance in the hopes that it was a lethal dose of fentanyl.
According to police she was being forced to have sex with old men for money and being fed cocaine.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking which is punishable between five and 14 years in prison .
Steven Fix, defence lawyer for the accused, sought the minimum sentence in exchange for his guilty plea while prosecutor Susan Hughson recommended eight years for Montasser’s “predatory” behaviour.
The sentence was reduced by 30 days for each time the accused caught COVID-19 in the Edmonton Remand Centre. Montasser is also required to register as a sex offender for 20 years.
