Trial continues for man accused of forcing woman into prostitution

By Dave Toplikar

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | 12:59 p.m.

A Canadian woman who says she was sexually molested and forced into prostitution for three days in Las Vegas had been selling sexual favors in Los Angeles a few days earlier, a jury was told Tuesday.

That revelation came out during opening arguments in the second day of the trial for Charles Ford, who is accused of sexually assaulting the woman multiple times and forcing her into being a prostitute for three days in January in Las Vegas.

Ford, 49, who is booked into the Clark County Detention Center as David Brown, is charged with one count of pandering, one count of living from the earnings of a prostitute and seven counts of sexual assault.

The fact that the victim had been acting as a prostitute in Los Angeles did not come up during the preliminary hearing in February.

However, both Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck and defense attorney Ken Frizzell presented that information to the jury. Fleck said the woman had been a prostitute from age 13 to 16 in Canada, but had stopped and raised a family.

They did not explain why she had returned to prostitution in Los Angeles.

Frizzell said that the Canadian woman was also in the U.S. without a passport. And Frizzell said that Ford was guilty only by association and that another man, "T," actually committed the sexual assaults.

"T did this," Frizzell said.

The jury was taking a lunch break early this afternoon.

The alleged sexual offenses took place Jan. 1 through Jan. 3 at Travelodge, 5075 Koval Lane, in Las Vegas.

Fleck said witnesses will include the alleged victim, a security officer at Hooters casino, an employee at the Travelodge, several Metro vice detectives from the pandering and prostitution division, a crime scene analyst, a sexual assault examiner and an expert witness on pandering.

Ford's attorney said he did not plan to call any witnesses unless Ford decided he wanted to testify.

According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, the victim testified that she was from Alberta, Canada, and had come to the United States for the first time on Dec. 24, when she traveled to Washington State.

Fleck said today the woman came to this country to escape a bad relationship she was having with a man and some other problems she was having with family.

She said from there, she drove to Los Angeles, where she physically bumped into a woman on New Year's Eve on Sunset Boulevard. The Canadian woman later said she struck up a conversation with that same woman, who told her she was trying to get back to Las Vegas for a parole hearing.

Frizzell said that the victim had actually been "hooking" on the same street with the other woman for a week.

The Canadian woman said she had never been to Las Vegas, so agreed to drive the woman, whom she assumed was a prostitute.

When they arrived, "Annette" introduced the Canadian woman to her boyfriend, "T," who introduced her to Ford, who was called "Charlie."

The Canadian woman was asked if she could get a room for all of them because they didn't have proper ID. She said she did so. And then "Charlie" asked to see her ID and began writing down information from it.

Later, the woman was told by "T" that she now belonged to Charlie and they explained that she would become a prostitute and "break" to him. When she refused, "Charlie" told her that if she didn't comply, her adult children in Canada would face the consequences.

The woman testified that she worked as a prostitute Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 with "Annette" watching her, then was sent alone up to the Las Vegas Strip to be a prostitute on the night of Jan. 3, with "Charlie" telling her she would be watched.

The woman said that on Jan. 1-Jan. 3, "Charlie" sexually assaulted her against her will with various kinds of sexual acts to show her how she should behave as a prostitute.