Disturbing details emerged Wednesday during a sentencing hearing for a Vancouver man who pleaded guilty to luring and pimping out underage girls in downtown hotels.
In one case, Michael Bannon posed as the father of a 15-year-old to report her absent from school so he could sell her for sex, the court heard.
Last week, he pleaded guilty to 22 criminal charges against him.
Bannon admitted to contacting girls on social media, sometimes offering them modelling jobs. He convinced his victims to go to downtown hotels, where he would give them drugs and pimp them out to men who responded to online ads.
Some advocates say those men should also be held accountable for what happened.
"We have seen none of the buyers, the Vancouver men that bought mostly schoolgirls for their sexual services, be arrested or investigated and that for us is very, very troubling that so many men could have bought young underage girls," said Louisa Russell of Vancouver Rape Relief.
On Wednesday, the court heard emotional impact statements from Bannon's victims—some of whom are as young as 15—as well as from their mothers.
Crown and defense lawyers have agreed on a joint sentence submission of 14 years minus time served.
The judge could accept or reject that recommendation when he hands down a sentence next week.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson
