Derek Achong
Senior Reporter
A pair of Chinese nationals have been acquitted of trafficking two Venezuelan girls based on the failure of the State to prove the ages of the alleged victims.
On Thursday, Chang Bao Wang and Wei Liang Wu were found not guilty of two counts of trafficking a child at the end of their trial before Justice Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo and a nine-member jury at the O’Meara Judicial Complex in Arima.
The duo were arrested and charged in April 2019 as part of a major human trafficking and prostitution investigation conducted under the tenure of former police commissioner Gary Griffith.
The two minors were allegedly found in a house in Westmoorings occupied and controlled by the duo.
Under the Trafficking In Persons Act, a person convicted of committing the offence against an adult faces a minimum fine of $500,000 and no less than 15 years in prison.
Those who target minors are liable to a minimum $1 million fine and no less than 20 years in prison upon conviction.
The men lost several attempts to secure bail including before the Court of Appeal. They were eventually released pending trial on strict conditions including electronic ankle monitoring.
During the trial, the State called on several witnesses to testify, except the alleged victims, who were not present.
Their testimony during the preliminary inquiry of the case was relied on and presented before the jury.
After State prosecutors closed their case, the duo’s lawyers led by Mario Merritt of Regius Chambers, took issue with the fact that no evidence was led to prove that the alleged victims were minors at the time of the offence.
They claimed that despite the seriousness of the allegations, the State failed to prove an essential element of the offence and discharge their evidential burden.
Prosecutors attempted to amend the indictments to state that the victims were adults under the legislation, but the move to salvage the case was strongly resisted by the duo’s lawyers.
“The defence prepared and conducted this trial on the basis of the charges as laid,” Merritt said.
“To alter the indictment at the conclusion of the State’s case would deprive the accused of the opportunity to properly challenge evidence relevant to the distinct elements of a different offence,” he added.
Justice Waterman-Latchoo refused the application and found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.
She directed the jury to return with unanimous not guilty verdicts for the men, who were immediately released.
The men were also represented by Randall Raphael, Danielle Rampersad and Enrique Singh.
