Trial begins for man accused of forcing Canadian tourist into prostitution

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, April 11, 2011 | 12:06 p.m.

Jury selection was beginning today in the trial of a man accused of coercing a Canadian tourist into working for him for three nights as a prostitute in January and sexually assaulting her several times.

Charles A. Ford, 49, also known as David Brown, is charged with one count of pandering, one count of living from the earnings of a prostitute and seven counts of sexual assault.

Clark County District Judge Valerie Adair told jurors she expected the trial to last until Thursday. Adair began the jury selection process this morning, telling the pool of 59 potential jurors she would need to pick 12 jurors and two alternates.

Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck told the jury all of the alleged sexual offenses took place Jan. 1 through Jan. 3 at Travelodge, 5075 Koval Lane, in Las Vegas.

Fleck said witnesses will include the alleged victim, a security officer at Hooters casino, an employee at the Travelodge, several Metro vice detectives from the pandering and prostitution division, a crime scene analyst, a sexual assault examiner and an expert witness on pandering.

Ford's attorney, Ken Frizzell, said he did not plan to call any witnesses unless Ford decided he wanted to testify.

The victim in the case is a woman from Alberta, Canada, who testified that at a preliminary hearing in February that she had taken a leave of absence from her job, following the death of one of her adult daughters.

The woman, who said she had never left Canada before, said she first went to Washington state on Dec. 24, then drove to Los Angeles and was there on New Year's Eve.

The woman said she met a woman named "Annette" who was standing along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. She said she later saw the woman that same morning, who told her she needed to go meet with her parole officer in Las Vegas.

The victim said she gave "Annette," who she said she assumed to be a prostitute, a ride to Las Vegas. She said the woman was friendly to her and when they arrived they went to meet Annette's boyfriend, "T."

"T" then introduced her to "Charlie" and the men asked the Canadian woman if she could get them a room in the Travelodge because they didn't have proper identification.

After they checked in, the woman said "T" told her he was giving her to "Charlie," and that she would work for him as a prostitute. She said when she refused, he told her if she didn't cooperate, her adult children would "bear the consequences."

The woman said she complied and worked as a prostitute with Annette at a truck stop on the first night and at a different truck stop on a second night.

She said each night when they returned to the Travelodge, she had to give the money to "Charlie." She said Charlie sexually assaulted her with his hand on the first night and that on the second night, he forced her into various sexual acts.

She said that on the last night she was told that she would be dropped off alone to work as a prostitute on the Las Vegas Strip, but that she would be watched. She said before she left, Ford allegedly sexually assaulted her multiple times in various sexual acts.

She testified that she was driven to the Excalibur, then went to the Luxor, where she met a Canadian man and went to his room to have sex with him, but decided not to charge him any money.

The woman said she then walked to Hooters and talked to a man in a Taxicab Authority uniform about her situation. The uniformed man put her into contact with Metro Police, who eventually went to the Travelodge and arrested Ford, according to police.