Jeremy Hainsworth

Former Vancouver School Board trustee testifies in underage sex sting case

Former Vancouver School Trustee Ken Clement was going to pay a male prostitute he thought was 19-years-old $180 an hour for sex in police underage sex sting.

A former Vancouver School trustee was confused about the age of a teen prostitute he was communicating with for sex, he told a Vancouver Provincial Court judge Friday.

Kenneth Joseph Clement is charged with obtaining for consideration the sexual services of a person under the age of 18 years.

"You were meeting this individual to engage in sex for money?" Crown prosecutor Curtis Johnson asked Clement, citing an agreed price of $180 an hour.

"Yes," said Clement.

Clement, who was first elected to the school board in 2008, was announced as a Vision candidate on June 20, 2018. He dropped out of the race a week later after his arrest.

At the time, Vision spokesperson Michael Haack said Clement was not running in the upcoming election race due to health reasons.

Clement, however, was one of multiple men charged in an underage sex sting. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said at the time of the arrests the sting was aimed at people allegedly targeting underage girls between the ages of 15 and 17.

"After prospective sex trade consumers made contact via text message, they were advised that the subject of the online advertisement was a girl between 15 and 17 years of age," police said in a statement.

It wasn't until Clement's case was in court that it was revealed the officer in his case was posing as a male.

The VPD said in January 2019 that 47 men were arrested in 2018 following a two-month operation that targeted people willing to purchase sexual services from youth.

"Our detectives led an operation designed to prevent the exploitation of youth. It resulted in the arrest of a significant number of men, from all walks of life," Laurence Rankin, VPD deputy chief constable, said at the time.

VPD detectives posted decoy advertisements on web escort listings and social media platforms for sexual services. In Clement's case, he had initially contacted a youth called 'Kevin,' who in a sex ad on the website leolist.cc, said he was 19 years old.

'Kevin' turned out to be a police officer, part of an operation led by the VPD's Counter Exploitation Unit with assistance from the RCMP's Counter Exploitation team.

Under questioning from Crown Prosecutor Curtis Johnson, Clement confirmed he began text communication with 'Kevin' on June 23, 2018, at 12:24 a.m. Early in their exchange, Clement received a text saying 'Kevin' was almost 17, something that left him confused.

Johnson asked Clement why he had not sought to clarify the age issue.

Clement maintained he had operated on the belief 'Kevin' was 19 as per the online ad despite the change of age in the texts.

"I didn't ask," Clement said. "I didn't remedy that."

The Crown prosecutor then pointed to a text to 'Kevin' that said, "Dad is excited."

"Dad is you, right?" Johnson asked.

"Yes," Clement told Judge David St. Pierre, later adding, "My hypothetical excitement was based on the fact I was dealing with a 19-year-old."

Clement went to Vancouver's Atrium Inn to meet 'Kevin.' But when he got there, police were waiting and arrested him — one of nine separate "arrest days" when the men showed up at a hotel as part of an arranged sexual encounter.

In court, Clement identified pictures of items seized by police, including $300 in cash, a genital desensitizer and a sex-enhancing drug. He had also brought some vodka with him.

The judge in the case has begun hearing final arguments from the Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer Sarah Rauch to sum up the evidence.

It's not clear when St. Pierre will deliver a decision.