A Perth man has been found guilty in court of trafficking a young girl, and allegedly raping her at a production line.
Key points:Josiah Lewis was found guilty by the court of child sexual exploitationThe court heard the 14-year-old girl was a young runaway from PerthThe girl was sold to a ring of men who worked on the production line of a crack cocaine companyKey points :The girl is believed to have been sold to four men in Perth, one of whom allegedly raped herJosias family had been trying to get him released from prison but the court heard they were told he was still in custody.
Josia Lewis was arrested on April 20 last year, after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-month-old child, and also for attempting to sell a 14 year-old runaway from a Perth production line to a man in the US.
The child was sold in Australia to an unknown man.
Lewis was found to be in possession of child pornography and he was also found to have failed to register for his parole.
The court was told the alleged victim, now aged 14, had been in a relationship with Lewis since the age of five and was pregnant.
It was alleged Lewis was not in a position to care for the child, as he had a child support payment owed to him and a number of debts.
He was also allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with another girl.
The girl’s mother said Lewis had sexually abused her daughter.
She said her daughter was in foster care and the abuse continued.
The court also heard the girl was trafficked to a Perth operation, and was sold at least four times, including once to a trafficker who worked at the production plant.
Her mother said her son was now working at a Perth facility.
The mother said she would like to know why she was not notified about the child’s whereabouts and why she did not know about the alleged abuse.
The accused was remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing in November.
Topics:crimes-and-justice,sexual-offences,community-and_society,child-abuse,child,worcester-6230,wa,perth-6000,nsw,nashua-2680,vic,asia