Australian runaway became 'sexual slave'

SYDNEY, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- An Australian teenager who ran away from home eventually found herself in prostitution as "a sort of sexual slave," a judge said.

Judge Michael Finnane said that shortly after leaving home because of a fight with her mother, the unidentified girl met 24-year-old Antonio Salvatore who convinced her to become a prostitute, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday.

"She was working for him, making nothing. She was in reality a sort of sexual slave," the judge said.

During Salvatore's hearing on related charges on Friday, Finnane dismissed the defense's argument that his troubled upbringing was the cause for his illegal actions.

"Whether a person is hungry or depressed or had a bad childhood … no excuse can be proffered for such an awful exploitation," Finnane said.

The Herald said that Salvatore pleaded guilty to having sex with the underage girl and a charge of encouraging child prostitution, and faces a minimum four year prison sentence from Finnane.