A Montreal rapper and convicted pimp has been sentenced to four years behind bars for engaging in what detective-sergeant Dominic Monchamp of the Montreal police calls “modern-day slavery.”
Jahmane Bolton, better known by his moniker Frost, was sentenced Friday after a young woman who started out as his girlfriend later became a stripper and prostitute. She was savagely beaten if she didn't bring home enough money.
According to evidence collected by the police, Bolton took all the money, meaning the victim had to ask for permission for anything other than the bare essentials — meals while working and cab rides back home in the middle of the night.
Police found out about the victim while responding to a domestic violence call and, after reviewing her file, later realized she was being pimped by Bolton. Monchamp worked undercover in the case.
"She needed to bring him a certain amount per week and if she wasn't doing it, she was getting beaten," Monchamp says. Some incidents were so violent she had to flee the home and hide at a neighbour’s place.
Éliane Legault-Roy of CLES (Concertation des luttes contre l'exploitation sexuelle) says the victim in this case is hardly alone.
"It's a very sad story, but what's even sadder is that it's not uncommon," Legault-Roy says.
She says a lot of women who get pimped out often find it nearly impossible to leave, even though they realize they are being abused.
"She might still have issues with drugs, or mental health problems, or physical health. She needs the money, and that's what she knows, and the people she knows are still in it. And it there's a pimp that's trying to get you back there and threatening you or anything like that, it's even harder. It's a very difficult and long process," Legault-Roy says.
Monchamp says it’s very rare that victims of pimping come to police.
“These victims don’t come to us, they don’t press charges,” Monchamp says. Police often have to pursue the victims to nab pimps. The small unit Monchamp is a part of consists of five detectives, and they bust between 10 and 15 cases a year.
Jahmane Bolton, better known by his moniker Frost, was sentenced Friday after a young woman who started out as his girlfriend later became a stripper and prostitute. She was savagely beaten if she didn't bring home enough money.
According to evidence collected by the police, Bolton took all the money, meaning the victim had to ask for permission for anything other than the bare essentials — meals while working and cab rides back home in the middle of the night.
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| Jahame Bolton, AKA Frost |
Police found out about the victim while responding to a domestic violence call and, after reviewing her file, later realized she was being pimped by Bolton. Monchamp worked undercover in the case.
"She needed to bring him a certain amount per week and if she wasn't doing it, she was getting beaten," Monchamp says. Some incidents were so violent she had to flee the home and hide at a neighbour’s place.
Éliane Legault-Roy of CLES (Concertation des luttes contre l'exploitation sexuelle) says the victim in this case is hardly alone.
"It's a very sad story, but what's even sadder is that it's not uncommon," Legault-Roy says.
She says a lot of women who get pimped out often find it nearly impossible to leave, even though they realize they are being abused.
"She might still have issues with drugs, or mental health problems, or physical health. She needs the money, and that's what she knows, and the people she knows are still in it. And it there's a pimp that's trying to get you back there and threatening you or anything like that, it's even harder. It's a very difficult and long process," Legault-Roy says.
Monchamp says it’s very rare that victims of pimping come to police.
“These victims don’t come to us, they don’t press charges,” Monchamp says. Police often have to pursue the victims to nab pimps. The small unit Monchamp is a part of consists of five detectives, and they bust between 10 and 15 cases a year.
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