POLICE Lance Corporal 17370 Huford David, 36, appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday, charged with human trafficking.

Particulars of the offence said, between January 1 and 31, he engaged in trafficking a 14-year-old female juvenile to Kukumu, Mazaruni River, for sexual exploitation.
Inspector Steven Telford, prosecuting, objected to bail, on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence; the fact that David is a member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the likelihood of more charges being laid against him.
But defence counsel Peter Hugh said the defendant resides at Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice and is a serving member of the GPF with no previous conviction.
The lawyer said, apart from being a policeman, David is a normal man and asked, if the Prosecution has not completed the investigation, when are they going to.
The prosecutor said the defendant offered the virtual complainant’s sister a job in a bar while making an offer for her to do other business. Her sister refused, but the 14-year-old accepted and she was taken from her home to a hotel where she spent a night.
Then, the following morning, he took her from Parika to Bartica and  to Kukumu.
The prosecutor said David told the teen she must collect two ounces of raw gold or $20,000 from every man she slept with and hand over the payments to a shopkeeper named ‘Rankin’ to keep.

SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS
The Court was informed that, as a result of nine sexual encounters, the girl accumulated 12 pennyweights of raw gold along with $160,000. Subsequently, she contacted the shop keeper and demanded her money and gold but the man told her he did not have anything for her. She then took the defendant to Rankin and asked for what belonged to her, but the latter could  give account for only six pennyweights of raw gold and $130,000.
The girl then left the defendant’s premises and contacted the Guyana Women Miners Association and sought help, the Court heard.
The defendant was located after investigations were launched and legal advice secured before he was arrested and charged, the prosecutor narrated.
David was remanded to Lusignan Prison until May 2.