Man convicted for trafficking Pinay nanny wins appeal, gets new trial

A man convicted in Canada for putting his illegally-hired Filipina domestic helper through slave-like conditions in 2013 has been awarded a new trial after winning an appeal, reports said.

Franco Orr Yiu-kwan, who was sentenced to 18 months for human trafficking, argued in his appeal that it was unreasonable to convict him and then acquit his partner and co-accused, Oi Ling Nicole Huen, a report on Vernon Morning Star said Tuesday.

He added that the judge erred in allowing an expert witness give a testimony, a point the evaluating three-man panel from the B.C. Appeal Court considered in granting his appeal.

report on Brandon Sun quoted Justice Peter Willcock, one of the panel members, as saying that there was "inefficient evidence of the probative value of the expert's opinion." He also said there was a "clear risk" of the admission being "wrongly relied upon as oath-helping".

However, the panel dismissed Orr's claim that he suffered a "miscarriage of justice" during the trial proper.

Reports said Orr and Huen made their Filipina helper, Leticia Sarmiento, believe that she would have the same working conditions as she had in Hong Kong in 2008, where she was first hired by the couple.

While her monthly pay of C$500 remain consistent with Hong Kong's minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers, it was way below British Columbia's minimum hourly wage of C$10.25. She was aslo made to work 16 hours a day for 21 months with no breaks.

Sarmiento managed to call 911 for help in June 2010. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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