Man pleads guilty to operating brothels out of hotels
A Dartmouth man changed his plea to guilty Monday on a number of charges related to prostitution in New Brunswick.
In Fredericton provincial court, Travendus Shawnzayer Beals, 29, changed his plea to guilty to four charges related to prostitution.
Judge Mary Jane Richards was told a story of how a 26-year-old woman came to police for help in "leaving a bad situation."
"She thought they would be a couple," stated Crown prosecutor Rodney Jordan in presenting a statement of facts to the court. "She had feelings for him.
"When he invited her to move to Halifax she thought they would be a couple," said Jordan.
The woman cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban.
Wearing grey sweat pants and matching T-shirt, Beal changed his plea to guilty to:
- Receiving financial benefits from prostitution operations
- Keeping a common bawdy house
- Receiving financial benefits from the commission of prostitution offences
- Transporting a woman to a bawdy house
Beal used three Moncton hotels and one in Fredericton as bawdy houses.
The Crown dropped a charge of recruiting, holding, or harbouring a prostitute, or controlling the movements.
Beals originally pleaded not-guilty to all charges following his arrest in early August.
Court statements
Jordan told the court Beals and the woman had met and became friends in Toronto in 2015, but reconnected over dating apps and Facebook after Beals moved to Nova Scotia.
The woman had moved to Alberta. Jordan stated Beals convinced the woman to move from Alberta for what she thought was a relationship.
Jordan detailed the relationship as starting as monogamous, but Beals broached the prospect of arranging meetings between other men and the woman, who stated she had worked as an escort prior to her dealings with Beals.
"They became weekly events," said Jordan. "More often than not they would be for sexual acts."
The court heard how the website backpage.com was used to facilitate meetings and that the average amount being exchanged was $200 an hour.
In the statement given to the Fredericton Police Force, the woman said Beals would come in after an arranged meeting and take the money left on a counter. She described him buying her food and personal hygiene items with that money, but stated Beals kept the majority of it.
Jordan stated that hotels used for meetings included the Rodd Hotel in Moncton and the Howard Johnson hotels in Fredericton and Moncton.
"Police confirmed with those hotels that they did stay there during the dates in question," said Jordan. "And that he paid with cash."
Possible expansion
The court also heard how Beals later recruited another woman similar arrangements. Pamphlets and other information found in Beals's 2004 grey Mazda indicated possible arrangements being made in other New Brunswick cities, including Saint John.
According to Jordan, police found Beals would transport the women between cities with his car and occasionally by taking the bus.
Defence lawyer Ed Darrah did not dispute any details in the Crown's statement.
A victim impact statement will be heard by the Richards on Nov.4 at 1:30 p.m.
Beals remains in custody.
