B.C.’s Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence for a man convicted of 30 counts of prostitution-related, sexual, and human trafficking offences against 11 complainants between the ages of 14 and 19 from 23 years to 20 years.
Still, stressed Justice Janet Winteringham, Reza Moazami’s “criminal conduct was grave and morally reprehensible. He engaged in predatory and exploitative criminal behaviour toward a large number of vulnerable young victims. His conduct was punctuated by coercion and sexual violence toward a number of them.”
The B.C. Supreme Court convictions of Moazami stemmed from a 36‑count indictment involving offences committed between 2009 and 2011. Nine of the complainants were under the age of 18 at the time of the offences.
The case was British Columbia's first human trafficking case related to minors.
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the convictions in June 2022.
Still, Moazami appealed the sentence.
Writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, Winteringham said Moazami claimed the sentencing judge failed to consider his rehabilitation potential, that the judge exceeded the Crown’s proposed range of sentence without providing notice to Moazami, and improperly considered Moazami's exercise of his right to trial and the conduct of his defence as an aggravating factor.
Moazami also sought to admit fresh evidence on appeal.
Winteringham said the judge erred when she considered Moazami's exercise of his right to a trial and his conduct during the trial to justify the imposition of a 23-year sentence.
“The total sentence is reduced from 23 years to 20 years and eight months and the appellant is credited an additional 50 days for pre-sentence custody,” Winteringham wrote.
The application to admit fresh evidence was dismissed.
“The appellant failed to establish the fresh evidence bears upon a decisive issue or could reasonably be expected to have affected the resulting sentence,” the judge said.
B.C.’s first human trafficking case
The girls had worked as prostitutes in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Nanaimo, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal.
The trial court heard tales of violence, intimidation and exploitation as well as the drugging of victims.
“The judge found Mr. Moazami’s actions to some of the complainants were cruel and coercive, and met the predatory standards demanded by the offences on which she convicted,” B.C.’s appeal court said.
The Vancouver Police Department’s Counter Exploitation Unit, which handles situations involving violence, exploitation, youth and human trafficking, did the Moazami investigation.
James Fisher was the lead investigator. He later pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust by kissing one victim in 2015 and one count each of sexual exploitation and breach of trust involving another. He received a 20-month sentence on the convictions.
