A Kambah woman has been found guilty of possessing a Thai sex worker as a slave.
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A guilty verdict was returned on all charges against 45-year-old Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, including intentionally possessing a slave, attempting to pervert the course of justice and four offences under the Migration Act.
The jury reached the verdict after hearing eight days of evidence and submissions.
The verdict, barring any appeal, brings to a close the first slavery prosecution heard in a Canberra court. It is also the first time the Migration Act offences have been contested in an Australian court.
Nantahkhum now faces a 25 year jail sentence on the slavery charge. Justice Richard Refshauge has revoked the woman's bail after the crown raised fears she would go on the run in the face of a looming prison sentence.
The charges related to two Thai women brought to Australia in mid 2007 to work as prostitutes out of Braddon premises rented by Nantahkhum.
The crown argued one of the women - the subject of the slavery charge - was left isolated and vulnerable in a foreign land with no money, leaving her no choice but to submit to slavery.
The woman said her passport was taken from her and she was initially denied a key to the premises. The court also heard her earnings were taken to pay off a $43,000 debt owed to Nantahkhum and those who facilitated her arrival in Australia.
A detailed ledger she kept of her client numbers and her finances revealed she serviced more than 720 clients in three and a half months to clear the debt.
During the trial the court was told the woman rarely left the apartment in her first month in Canberra, and had to seek Nantahkhum's permission before doing so.
Commonwealth prosecutor Sara Cronan, in her closing address to the jury yesterday, said there was "really no aspect" of the woman's life that wasn't controlled by the accused.
But Nantahkhum's legal team argued their client's accuser was a mercenary, only out to make money. They disputed her account of having her passport taken and being denied a key.
The defence noted the woman agreed to have sex with a man for money on her first night in Australia.
Barrister James Sabharwal suggested the alleged victim wanted revenge against Nantahkhum, who she "100 per cent" believed had dobbed her in to immigration authorities.
Nantahkhum sat still with her head bowed as a Thai interpreter communicated the jury's verdicts.
She was lead from the courtroom in handcuffs, and is expected to remain in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre until a sentencing hearing in May.
