Human trafficking trial hears about game of Russian roulette – Timmins Press

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"Any time he felt I was lying, he would pull the trigger

A woman told a Timmins court she was raped, forced into prostitution, and at one point threatened with a gun pressed against her head by a man currently on trial for human trafficking.

Vincenzo Giovenco, 42, of Woodbridge, is being tried in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Timmins on 15 charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.

The trial began last week.

Thursday saw the Crowns key witness the complainant in this matter return to the stand where she continued to undergo a gruelling cross-examination from defence lawyer Paul Bragagnolo.

Bragagnolo has targeted the womans hazy memory of dates and locations of the alleged events citing altered details in her story not only from her initial interview with police to the preliminary hearing but even in her testimony within the current trial itself.

On Thursday, Bragagnolo asked the complainant about an incident involving a gun which the court heard about last week.

She testified that Giovenco expressed concern to her about sharing personal information with the clients she was having sex with at a hotel she was brought to in Toronto. She said he arrived and told her they were going to play a game of Russian roulette while he asked her a series of questions.

At that point, he had held a gun to my head and said, Im going to ask you once and once only. Have you told these men about our operation, why youre doing this, who I am, where youre from, who you are or if youre being forced to do this?

He told me there was one bullet in the chamber and that I had so many chances to tell the truth and any time he felt I was lying, he would pull the trigger.

She said he pulled the trigger several times during this inquiry, resulting in the sound of a loud click against her head. She said she pleaded with him and started crying while he was doing this.

Bragagnolo asked her if the handgun was a revolver or a semi-automatic. She said she didnt know but was able to confirm the gun didnt have a revolving chamber.

The complainant told the court she didnt know anything about guns and believed Giovenco when he said there was a chamber with a single bullet.

Bragagnolo noted a change in this story from last week when the complainant told the court this incident occurred at the same Toronto hotel where she was being held and forced to engage in sex work.

While testifying Thursday, she said this incident actually happened at an Airbnb which she was brought to after the four days she had spent at the hotel.

Bragagnolo subsequently asked her, How often is your story going to change?

She replied, I know these incidents happened and I just cant pinpoint exactly where and when.

The complainant conceded she has had difficulties recalling timelines and specific locations because at the time she was addicted to fentanyl and she said Giovencos associates kept her drugged up to keep her compliant while she was in Toronto. She said she didnt have her cellphone and had no way of keeping track of days or knowing the time.

Bragagnolo suggested at another point, Clearly fentanyl would affect your memory.

The complainant replied, It would, but when something so traumatic happens, its not going to affect my memory on something like that.

Giovenco was arrested in Timmins in February 2021.

The complainant, a woman in her mid-20s, said she met Giovenco through mutual friends in Timmins in early December. The court heard he gained her trust by providing her with drugs and then subsequently intervening when a woman who was friends with her ex-boyfriend attempted to attack her.

Bragagnolos cross-examination of the complainant and the presentation of the Crowns case is expected to wrap up on Friday.

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Human trafficking trial hears about game of Russian roulette - Timmins Press