A Winnipeg woman guilty of luring a vulnerable Indigenous teen into the sex trade has been sentenced to six years in prison by a judge who described her as a “very in-charge young woman” who ran a “sophisticated and comprehensive” sex-trafficking operation.
Nicki Kathleen Roulette, 24, pleaded guilty to one count each of child luring, procuring a person under the age of 18, and making child pornography.
“Roulette lured (the victim) into a trusted relationship, got her addicted to (drugs) and then exploited her,” provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine said in a 27-page written decision released Tuesday.
“The enormity of the offence is staggering.”–Judge Cynthia Devine
“The enormity of the offence is staggering,” Devine said.
In July 2021, Roulette, who is also Indigenous, met the then-15-year-old victim through a mutual friend and the two started messaging each other online. The relationship progressed and the girl started visiting Roulette at her Winnipeg condo. During a Sept. 7, 2021 visit, Roulette got the girl drunk and asked if she wanted to make money in the sex trade.
The girl was introduced to her first john that night.
Roulette posted ads on a sex-trade website using pictures of herself, and then arranged for the victim to be sexually abused by as many as 12 men a day in hotel rooms rented by Roulette’s mother.
Roulette provided the girl with Percocets, to which she became addicted and on one occasion recorded a cellphone video of them engaged in a sex act, which she sold to a man for $100.
“Messages, screenshots, videos and photos extracted from her phone show a very active and organized sex trafficking business… with customers, price lists of services, e-transfers, hotel bookings and several photos of Roulette counting or displaying large amounts of cash, drugs, and in two photos, a handgun,” Devine said.
The victim was given half of the proceeds from the sex acts, “helping to assure (her) continuing involvement,” and was also paid in Percocets, Devine said.
“As a result of the drug use, and no doubt to tolerate the sexual assaults against her, the victim became addicted to Percocet” and took as many as 15 pills a day, Devine said.
Roulette, who was connected to a gang, used pressure, manipulation and the threat of violence to keep the victim working for her, Devine said.
In a police interview, the girl said Roulette had ruined her life.
“I was only 15 and she’s a grown woman.”–Victim
“It’s hard, because like I was only 15 and she’s a grown woman,” the girl told investigators.
Roulette’s “moral culpability” for her crimes was reduced by her own involvement in the sex trade, beginning when she was 12, Devine said.
“An important aspect of this case is that Roulette victimized the victim as she had been victimized,” she said. “She has never had a job outside the sex trade. She recruited the victim in this case at the behest of the sex trafficker for whom she worked.”
Roulette suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a boyfriend who had forced her to work as an “escort” and at the age of 15 was forced to draw other girls into the sex trade, court was told.
“There is a direct connection between Roulette’s own victimization and her offending behaviour,” Devine said. “Her offending behaviour cannot be divorced from her victimization and her worldview in which the sex trade is normalized.”
Roulette received credit for time served, reducing her remaining sentence to just over three years.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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