Archive News
Romanian mother of three jailed for running a brothel
Date Published: 21-Mar-2012
A Romanian mother of three, who came to Ireland for the purposes of operating a brothel in a city apartment, was charging €80 for half an hour and €160 for an hour of sexual services, Galway District Court heard yesterday.
In sentencing her to three months in prison, Judge Conal Gibbons said that Monica Ciuciu (34), of 15 Mary Street, had lied to him under oath and would have to face the consequences of that.
“Innocent people are victimised by extraordinarily sinister persons, I’m extremely worried about what I’m hearing – there is no evidence before me what side of the fence she was on,” he said.
The defendant claimed that she had worked as a cleaner for two weeks, before a friend told her she could earn more money in prostitution. An apartment was organised for her, and a key left in the letterbox, she said.
Gardaí found her and a Romanian man in the apartment on the afternoon of Saturday, February 11 – she had booked a flight to return home on the following Tuesday.
“They searched it and found a lot of used and unused condoms, there was evidence of sexual activity having taken place,” Inspector Sean Glynn told the court.
“There were entries in a diary of money taken in, she admitted that they were for services rendered.”
The accused, who was assisted by an interpreter, pleaded guilty to acting or assisting in the management of a brothel at her home, contrary to Section 11 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993.
The court heard previously that after caution, Ciuciu replied: “I admit.”
Inspector Glynn added that the owner of the apartment did not realise that it was being used for this purpose, and had leased it to someone other than the defendant.
“It had been going on since before Christmas, and over the Christmas period – she said that she sent the money home to her family,” he said.
Legal aid solicitor, Ronan Murphy, said that his client arrived in Ireland on foot of information she got from friends in the prostitution trade, and came for that purpose only.
“The apartment was made available to her, and she was operating as a sole trader for her own purposes, and was not involved with anyone else – there is no question of trafficking,” Mr Murphy said.
The court heard, however, that further charges were expected to be brought against the second occupant of the apartment, Ioan Bizau (28), of the same address.
The solicitor said that his client, who had little or no English, was a divorced mother of three children, aged 17, 15, and 9, and received no assistance from her ex-husband.
“They are living with her parents – she came here to send money back to Romania,” he said.
He could not offer any proof of this, however, when requested by Judge Conal Gibbons.
See full court report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.