B.C. pimp who trafficked Indigenous child sentenced to 6 years

Meaz Nour-Eldin is shown in a photo provided by Surrey RCMP.

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

A B.C. pimp who lured a 15-year-old Indigenous girl into prostitution – plying her with drugs and alcohol, and punishing her with physical and sexual violence – has been sentenced to six years in prison for human trafficking.

Meaz Nour-Eldin, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking a minor in B.C. Supreme Court, admitting he and two other people worked together to exploit the young victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

Over a period of about two months, beginning in late 2018, the teenager was forced to have sex with “numerous customers,” pressured to earn at least $1,500 per night, and only allowed to keep a “tiny fraction” of the money, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick wrote in her sentencing decision.

“She was physically mistreated by the men, by violence or the threat of violence,” reads the Dec. 21 decision, which was posted online last week. “She was also required to have sex with Mr. Nour-Eldin and his associates, and their friends.”

The victim attended court to describe the impacts of the abuse in person, and was applauded by the judge for her bravery in doing so.

“Her youth and innocence was stolen from her. She continues to feel guilt, shame and fear, and feels isolated from her peers,” Fitzpatrick wrote, summarizing the victim’s remarks.

“She feels that her ability to form intimate relationships has been impaired, perhaps permanently. She notes that her relationship with her family has been negatively impacted, although she appreciates the support then and now from her mother and sisters.”

History of the offender

The court heard Nour-Eldin began racking up criminal charges shortly after graduating from a Surrey high school in 2015, as he started using drugs. He committed a stick-up robbery for drug money in February 2016, and assaulted a peace officer months later.

He also dealt drugs himself, including the deadly opioid fentanyl, as part of a dial-a-dope operation.

The defence said Nour-Eldin came from a conservative Muslim family – who immigrated to Canada in the early 2000s, when he was six years old – and that he faced financial instability and racism during his upbringing.

But Fitzpatrick noted the young man was, “by all accounts,” well supported by his parents throughout his teenage years, pointing out he was taking courses at the B.C. Institute of Technology before being “moved off that worthwhile path by drugs, as encouraged by his friends, which then led him to a life of crime.”

“No doubt your family had hopes for your future in bringing you to Canada,” the judge said. “You have squandered that opportunity, at least for the time being.”

Victim lured into sex trade

The disturbing details of what Nour-Eldin’s victim endured, and how her abusers deceived her into the sex trade, are outlined in an agreed upon statement of facts that was included in the sentencing decision.

The child was introduced to Nour-Eldin and an associate of his named Elkan Vyizigiro at a party in December 2018. She had been invited by a 14-year-old, who promised there would be alcohol and pot – and a potential opportunity to make money by “setting people up to be robbed," according to the court documents.

At that point, the girl had dropped out of high school and started running away from home. Nour-Eldin was 21.

Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro, who were aware of the child’s age, first convinced her to act as a sex worker “decoy,” meeting up with “Johns” so the men could extort or rob them.

The plan was that she would get the money up front then ask the John to shower, at which point Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro would emerge and begin recording the John for the purposes of blackmailing him for more money.

“The John would be told he was meeting with a 15-year-old and called a pedophile,” according to the documents, which indicate the child was used in “multiple such robberies.”

The court heard Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro later convinced the girl if she wanted to make “real money” she would have to have sex with clients. They also promised she’d be able to travel, and would be treated to luxury goods.

They set the rates she would charge – which ranged from $100 for 15 minutes to $240 per hour – and posted ads on an escort website claiming she was of legal age.

And despite the victim telling Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro she wouldn’t have sex without a condom, or perform anal sex, those “restrictions” were not included in the ads.

Instead, they read: “I am very fun and love to party. We can do what you like.” Some explicitly promised “BeeBee,” an acronym for “bareback.”

Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro would assault or threaten the child if she refused to do what clients wanted, according to the statement of facts – and the teenage boy who introduced her to the men was involved in the abuse as well, slapping and raping her at their direction.

Kept awake with drugs, fed fast food

The court heard the child was sometimes made to sleep on a dirty mattress on the kitchen floor of a Surrey crack house. She was forced to see between five and 10 men per night, and at one point worked 29 days with only a single day off.

Living in those conditions, the victim said she would sometimes feel "too tired to insist clients respect her restrictions,” according to the court documents.

The victim estimated she brought in about $2,000 per night, but said she had to turn it all over to Nour-Eldin and Vyizigiro, and was never given back more than $30 at a time.

The court heard the child contracted STIs because she was not provided with condoms, or money with which to buy them – and at one point was refused money for new underwear even though she had “menstruated through her only pair.”

While she was supplied with drugs and alcohol, including cocaine to keep her awake, she was never given anything to eat other than fast food.

She was eventually apprehended by police under child protection laws, and was returned to her family home. Nour-Elgin and Vyizigiro tried to convince her not to quit, but she blocked them from contacting her.

One year later, in February 2020, she went to police and reported her abusers.

Consecutive sentences

The young offender involved in the pimping operation, who also can’t be named because of his age, was given one year of probation. Vyizigiro is still awaiting sentencing.

Fitzpatrick handed Nour-Elgin six years for human trafficking, and simultaneously sentenced him to 16 months on separate drug charges. The two sentences are to be served consecutively.

After credit for time already spent in custody, Nour-Elgin will spend another two years and nine months behind bars.

“In my view, it is an open question whether there is any prospect of your rehabilitation once you finish the penitentiary sentence that I am imposing, and perhaps other sentences that may be imposed upon you in the future,” Fitzpatrick wrote.

“In the meantime, I must impose a sentence that properly denounces your behaviour and deters you and others."

Nour-Elgin is still facing additional human trafficking charges in Ontario, and kidnapping charges in connection with a 2019 incident in Surrey.

Fitzpatrick expressed more hope for the future of the victim, describing her as having demonstrated “incredible resilience, strength and bravery" since the ordeal.

“She is now attending an educational institution and making her way in the world toward gaining employment," Fitzpatrick said. "And, as she hopes, making a mark in the world.”