Couple pleads guilty to selling female relative

A couple from the Stann Creek District is tonight behind bars, having pled guilty to the crime of trafficking in persons. According to police, twenty-one year old Celia Garcia and her common-law husband Walter Swazo were arrested at their home in Bella Vista Village after a thirteen year old female relative of Garcia’s reported that the pair had sold her. We understand that the parents of the child were told that she was being taken to visit relatives in Corozal… But authorities tell News Five that once in Belmopan the teenager was handed over to a man identified as Santos Martinez. It is also believed that it was there money was exchanged. From the capital, the girl and Martinez travelled to Guatemala and then onto El Salvador. The victim has told investigators that she was sexually assaulted a number of times by Martinez during the trip and in El Salvador. Sometime late last week, the child was able to make a report to Salvadoran police who then contacted Belizean officials. She was brought back to Belize this week and is tonight in the care of the Human Services Department. A medical examination has confirmed that she was carnally known. Swazo and Garcia were arraigned in Belmopan Magistrate’s Court this afternoon where they pleaded guilty. The matter has been adjourned until Tuesday morning when the pair will be sentenced in the capital city. We understand their accused accomplice, Santos Martinez, is in police custody in Salvador pending possible extradition to Belize for trial.