Guest W***ledi*Time Report post Posted September 4, 2011 Grant Scott-Story reports for Castanet News, 3 Sep 2011: http://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton/64269/Penticton-candidate-unrepentant Penticton Mayoralty candidate Benny Wolfe will be heading to court on Wednesday September 7 in relation to a juvenile prostitution charge. "What happened was I employed the services of a 'working girl'," says Wolfe, who claims he was told she was of a legal age, although he would not disclose what age he was told. "Two weeks later I engaged her services and engaged her services for close to seven continuous weeks." The trouble for Wolfe came when it was discovered the girl in question was in fact under-aged, and the subject of a an investigation by the RCMP in Penticton which led to two charges being laid against a 49-year-old Penticton man. He was charged with living off the avails of prostitution, the girl in this case is his daughter. Then, the police went after her customers, and that included Benny Wolfe. Wolfe claims he never knew she was under 18-years-old. Wolfe's marriage ended in 1996 and he says he has been using prostitutes since then. "Engaging the services of working girls is not new to me." As for how these charges will affect his candidacy: "Well you know what? The men are all voting for me, but the ladies are ready to rip my head off. They're ready to run me out of town on a rail." Wolfe says he has few regrets for his past activities, and insists there is nothing wrong with his lifestyle. "When your told she's of a legal age, there's nothing wrong with it. Don't judge me until the full facts are known and until the judge makes his ruling." Wolfe will face the judge to enter a plea on Wednesday September 7, at the Penticton Court House. He is already under a court order not to have contact with anyone under the age of 18. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamanthaEvans 166767 Report post Posted September 4, 2011 According to the Penticton Herald, Benny Wolfe is 67 years old. This is his second attempt to become mayor. In 2008, he received 96 votes, coming in dead last out of a field of five candidates. He says he was brand new to the city at the time. Now he's been there for three and a half years and thinks his chances have improved. The girl he is alleged to have engaged is 17 years old. Her 46 year-old father was her pimp. Two other men, ages 34 and 63, have also been charged along with Benny. According to the Vancouver Sun, Benny says he met the girl and her father at a bus stop bench. "She was reasonable, a hundred dollars for an hour of her time," said Wolfe. I'm sickened by this, as I'm sure most of us are. Benny says he was told the girl was of age. Why would he believe a father who is pimping out his own daughter? Moreover, when a 67 year-old man is engaging the services of a woman 50 years his junior but says he thought she was somewhat older... the thing doesn't pass the smell test. I hope someone is looking after the girl. She's going to need all the help she can get! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Megan'sTouch 23875 Report post Posted September 4, 2011 This is very scary. There are so many young women 15-17 who could easily pass for early/mid twenties. I do sympathize with the men because I believe there was no ill intention. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scribbles 6031 Report post Posted September 7, 2011 Not to sound blitheringly ignorant, but how could Benny Wolfe have known? The original post says to be careful to check ages, but I'm not sure how a client is supposed to do that. It's not like they can card the SP. Appearance is terribly difficult to use as an accurate measure; there are an insane number of women under the age of 18 who can pass for 5 years older than they really are. It's actually scary and kinda shocking. And, anyone can tell you anything. I'm sure she didn't tell Benny she was 17. So, how does a client know? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest W***ledi*Time Report post Posted September 7, 2011 ... So, how does a client know? Ask her to show you a photo ID. She can cover her real name on the card - all the client has to see is her photo and birth date. Playing safe is in both parties' interest. If you're suspicious, walk away. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scribbles 6031 Report post Posted September 7, 2011 Huh. I would never have figured asking for photo ID would be acceptable behavior in this kind of situation. Would Benny have been in the same trouble if he had been shown a fake ID, I wonder? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest W***ledi*Time Report post Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) ... Would Benny have been in the same trouble if he had been shown a fake ID, I wonder? The Criminal Code states (Section 150.1(5)): It is not a defence to a charge ... that the accused believed that the complainant was eighteen years of age or more at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed unless the accused took all reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the complainant. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-64.html#h-57 What "all reasonable steps" means is not defined in the legislation; I don't know what rulings have been made in the judicial system. Additional Comments: I did find this in the news about a Saskatchewan case in 2010: http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/local/story.html?id=60d27a03-d010-4536-b8f2-bdd301371258 A Regina man who picked up two underage teens for sex has been acquitted of charges after a judge accepted the accused's testimony that the girls showed him fake IDs. "I find as a fact that they told him they were 18 or over," Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ellen Gunn said Thursday in finding ... [the accused] not guilty. "I further find as a fact that the accused asked them to produce photo identification as proof of their age, and that they produced false identification verifying their age as being 18 or more," Gunn added ... Brown never denied engaging in sexual activities with the teens; rather the case turned on how old he believed they were, and what he did to back up that belief ... Brown told the court the complainants waved him down and appeared older due to their short skirts, make-up, hairstyles and purses. He said he asked their ages before allowing them into his vehicle and was told 19 and 20, and then requested photo identification, which appeared to confirm what they had told him. In court this week, one of the complainants ... denied lying to Brown about her age, while the other thought she had told him she was 17. However, they were cross-examined by defence lawyer Bruce Campbell about previous testimony when they admitted lying about their age, indicating they were 19 or 20. At the preliminary hearing, one had also admitted carrying fake identification ... "The Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused failed to take all reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the complainants," Gunn said ... Edited September 7, 2011 by W***ledi*Time found the 2010 court case Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamanthaEvans 166767 Report post Posted September 7, 2011 I doubt that Benny was interviewing the girl. He said that he met her and her pimp at a bus stop. If he took the pimp's word for it, that the girl was over 18, that's not adequate proof. The pimp has an obvious interest in representing the girl to be over 18 and the girl isn't going to contradict him in front of him. Photo ID is objective proof. Benny surely knows that in B.C., they ID anyone who looks to be 25 or under and wants to buy cigarettes or alcohol precisely because it's hard to know how old some people are when they're in their mid to late teens. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roamingguy 300292 Report post Posted September 7, 2011 The fact a pimp was involved should have been the first alarm bell that this was a case of a woman, sorry girl, being sexually exploited...it was not a case of a mutually beneficially encounter. The fact the pimp was her father should have been alarm bell number two, alarm bells don't go off for this guy when "daddy" pimps out his daughter There sounds from this that there are two people deserving of some time, the father and the mayor...and I hope the girl gets the counselling she definitely will need RG 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted September 11, 2011 Remember Tracy Lords? "At the age of 15, she ran away from home and was living with her mother's ex-boyfriend, Roger. Posing as her stepfather, he helped her respond to classified ads requesting models. Using a false drivers license ID provided by Roger that stated she was 20 rather than 15, she started in the porn industry..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traci_Lords Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
