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A videotaped statement by an 11-year-old American girl played in court yesterday
described how she was drugged and forced to work on Vancouver's notorious kiddie
hooker stroll.
In the tape, played at the provincial court trial of three Americans, the girl from Portland,
Ore., said she was made to work as a prostitute up to 12 hours a day.
She told the police she crossed the border with two men, a woman and the woman's
2-year-old son last February under the guise of attending a wedding in Richmond, a
Vancouver suburb.
However, she said she had been told previously by the three adults that there was easy
money to be made in prostitution in Vancouver
She agreed to go along because she was a runaway and had already worked the streets,
she stated to police.
Jabari McCrory, 26, David Martin Walker, 25, and Mistenda Mae Carter, 24, all of Portland,
are charged with abduction of a minor under the age of 14, living off the avails of
prostitution, sexual interference and assault.

A provincial court judge is hearing the case without a jury.

Lawrence Meyers, defence lawyer for one of the accused men, said the judge still has to
decide if the videotaped evidence is admissible. Meyers said the girl does not wish to testify
in court or by video link from Oregon and that the case will be dismissed if the police
videotape is not admissible.

'No Other Support'

"There's no support other than her statement to the police that supports these allegations,"
Meyers said.

The girl, who is seen sitting on a couch while two police officers interview her, spoke in a
deep, relaxed voice. She appears older than her 11 years and is well versed in the lingo of
the prostitution world.

Crown prosecutor Henry Reiner said regardless of her sophistication or whether she had
voluntarily worked the streets in Vancouver, the girl was still only 11.

"I think to a certain extent, to a large extent, it was voluntary but that she's still a child and
we do have requirements that children should not be exploited," Reiner said outside court.

On tape, the girl said she was given caffeine pills, the rave drug ecstasy, LSD, marijuana
and other drugs to keep her working.