Jessica, 16, who was arrested by the police during a raid at a sex club, shows her tattoo
Jessica, 16, who was arrested by the police during a raid at a sex club, shows her tattoo at a shelter for girls who have faced sexual violence or sexual commercial exploitation in Fortaleza November 1, 2013. With Brazil hosting the World Cup next year, officials fear an explosion in child prostitution as sex workers migrate to big cities and pimps recruit more underage prostitutes to meet the demand from local and foreign soccer fans. Picture taken November 1, 2013. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

An 18-year-old Canadian girl said that she was "sorry" for running a prostitution ring as she asked for youth sentence. The teenager, found guilty of running a prostitution racket at the age of 15, said that she was going to suffer the consequences for her "vile actions."

The girl was convicted earlier in 2014 on dozens of charges which included human trafficking. The Globe and Mail reported that the teenager used social networking websites like Facebook to make friends with other teenage girls whom she would force into prostitution. The convicted told the court on Monday that she had aspirations for her future "unlike before" as she was "solemnly sorry" for what she had done.

The girl has already spent three years and a half in pre-sentence custody. However, The Crown wants her to get an adult sentence which means that she will have to spend three more years in jail. She will also suffer a lifetime ban on weapons, a lifetime registration as a sex offender and a DNA sample order.

According to the Defence lawyer Ken Hall, the girl should not get an adult sentence as she was only 15 when she committed the offence. The crimes she committed were "out of character," Hall said. The defence also said that the teenager should go through a supervision programme as well as a clinical treatment as a part of the youth-justice law. Hall said that his client's upbringing had a lot to do with the offences she committed. He said that the "disengaged" mother of the convicted was a prostitute. The mother apparently brought alcohol and drug abuse into the home. Hall, on the other hand, said that the teenager was not a "victim" but was a "product of her environment."

According to Assistant Crown Attorney Fara Rupert, if the teenager is given 1.5 days credit for the 843 days in custody, she will have to spend three more years in prison. National Post reported that the sentence for human trafficking, according to a Youth Criminal Justice Act, is three years maximum. Even though the teenager was 15 while committing the offence, her conduct was "adult-like when she made the conscious and continuous decision to place money over everything to achieve her own goals," Rupert said.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au