Honduran national Yolanda Garcia, 41, was convicted on Friday of trafficking in persons, the second such conviction in a span of two weeks following a verdict handed down on January 31 in San Ignacio Town against Santa Elena resident Narcisa Orellana, 54.
Garcia, a hairdresser by trade, was charged after a report by a female minor, 17, to police accusing her of hiring the minor to work in her bar, La Serenita, on Regent Street West in Belize City, and including among her duties, giving sexual favors to customers for money.
The minor, who is originally from the Cayo District, testified en camera in court that she had just left school when she was hired as a waitress.
She alleged that she was told by Garcia that sex with patrons of the establishment for money was part of her work, despite her refusing to do so.
Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson defended Garcia, who, in her testimony, denied hiring the girl and denied the allegations against her.
Garcia also told the court that the 17-year-old made up the story against her after she was found in another bar in San Pedro Town where she was alleged to be working, and told police when she was picked up that she was working for her, Garcia, in Belize City.
Chief Magistrate Ann-Marie Smith heard the case, as she did with Orellana, and handed down a custodial sentence of twelve months after pleas in mitigation by Sampson on Friday morning, asking her to take into consideration that Garcia is a mother of three.
Orellana is serving an 18-month sentence.