A Nanaimo man will spend close to two more years in a Saskatchewan jail after pleading guilty to procuring a 15-year-old girl for sexual purposes.
Four Vancouver Islanders — Seyed Kamran Miralinaghi, his twin brother Seyed Kourosh Miralinaghi, his mother Shermineh Sheri Ziaee and Shawn Alexander Kelly — were arrested by Swift Current RCMP on Jan. 27 and charged with trafficking two young girls.
The arrests took place after an off-duty RCMP officer spotted three vehicles speeding along at 153 kilometres an hour on Highway 1 toward Swift Current, Sask. During the traffic stop, the Mounties became suspicious about the relationship between the adults and the two young girls, who had no identification.
On Oct. 6, Seyed Kamran Miralinaghi pleaded guilty to exercising control over the teenager to provide sexual services. A week later, following a joint submission by Crown and defence, he was sentenced to three years and 24 days in jail. With credit for time served, Miralinaghi has two years less one day to serve, followed by three years of probation.
During the sentencing hearing, senior Crown prosecutor Curtis Wiebe told the court that 30 minutes before the traffic stop, Miralinaghi directed the 15-year-old to put together a profile that she would use in Montreal for the sale of sexual services for his profit.
The girl, whose identity is protected by a court order, was dependent on Miralinaghi for the necessities of life and she turned over any money she made to him, said Wiebe.
Miralinaghi had a safe with $3,500 in cash, money from sale of the young girl’s sexual services, said Wiebe. Miralinaghi is prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years. He has also been ordered to provide a sample of his DNA and forfeit the $3,500 in cash.
Human-trafficking charges against Seyed Kourosh Miralinaghi were stayed. However, in September, he pleaded guilty to perjuring himself in court. He received a six-month sentence, deemed time he had already served, and has been released from custody in Saskatchewan.
Human-trafficking charges against Ziaee were also not pursued, said Wiebe. Ziaee was released from custody in Saskatchewan on Feb. 5 with an order prohibiting her from having contact with the 15-year-old victim.
A few days after her release, she phoned the victim’s mother and repeatedly asked how the young girl was doing. The call was reported to police and Ziaee was arrested and charged with breaching the Saskatchewan order. She was later released from custody.
Last week in Victoria provincial court, Ziaee entered into a 12-month peace bond, agreeing to have no contact with the 15-year-old girl or her mother. Ziaee agreed not to be within 100 metres of where they live, work, attend school or worship. If she sees them, she must leave their presence without any words or gesture.
The court heard that the victim’s mother is genuinely fearful for herself and her daughter and does not wish to have any contact with Ziaee in future. Defence lawyer Chantelle Sutton noted that there has been no further contact in the past 10 months.
“And I fully expect there won’t be any problems going forward,” she said.
Charges are still outstanding against Kelly. He has entered a guilty plea to obstruction or perjury, but that has not been resolved, said Wiebe.
ldickson@timescolonist.com
