A former Concordia University football player turned pimp was sentenced to six years in prison after raising up to $1,800 a day from a young woman forced to offer sex services in spas and hotel rooms in Montreal and Toronto.
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“I was so in love that I couldn’t see anything. […] Deep down, he didn’t want anyone to be able to help me. He held my life in his hands all this time, ”said the victim of Bryan André Rose with emotion last Friday in court.
The 32-year-old Ontarian was then sentenced to six years in prison for human trafficking and pimping at the Montreal courthouse.
The defense did not object to the sentence suggested by the Crown prosecutor, Ms.e Jean-Philippe MacKay: “This is the outcome we wanted,” he said.
Thunderbolt
Rose had met the one who would become his victim in a Montreal nightclub in 2010. He was studying sociology at Concordia University at the time, where he also played football. He had also moved to Montreal after receiving a scholarship to play on the university team.
The 19-year-old young woman at the time had fallen in love “at first sight”, she told the trial.
They initially had a friendly relationship, which over time developed into a romantic relationship over a period of approximately eight years.
It was not until 2013 that he convinced her to offer sexual services by working in spas and massage parlors. He had then dangled the idea that they would both become rich and that they would split the money half and half.
She initially refused, but ended up accepting because she loved him and couldn’t say no to him.
This is when the nightmare began for her. The young woman began by offering sexual services in spas in Montreal, then she joined Rose in Toronto, where she danced in a bar while meeting clients in hotel rooms.
During a period of seven months, she earned between $300 and $1800 per day. Her pimp got mad at her and pressured her if she didn’t make enough money.
“It was always money, money, money. […] Sometimes I didn’t even have time to drink a glass of water. Just run, run, run in high heels, naked, with customers like a robot,” she described at trial.
He controlled her communications with those close to her and went so far as to deprive her of food.
The Montrealer had to work six days a week and her only leave was “one maintenance day” for her manicure, hair and eyebrows. Rose also nicknamed her “Brinks” so much she brought in money, in reference to a truck that transports money.
“I’m going to kill you”
In February 2018, the now 27-year-old woman managed to leave Toronto. When she told him she wasn’t coming back to the Queen City, he made death threats to her: “I’m going to come to Montreal and kill you,” he said over the phone.
She reported him to Montreal authorities that same month, fearing he was sending someone to kill her.
Today, the victim still lives with “serious and lasting” psychological impacts, she explained to judge Josée Bélanger in a letter she read.
The young woman did not go out for four years after the events. If she starts “quietly to live again”, it is thanks to her new dog. She needs her pet to get out of her house.
“I can’t believe I made it out alive,” she said.
Bryan André Rose is appealing the guilty verdict and will ask to be released from prison pending the proceedings. A hearing must take place tomorrow in this regard. The Crown will oppose his release, the Log Me Jean-Philippe MacKay.
–With Michaël Nguyen