THEY had been promised a ‘completely different life’
But prostitutes operating in the Catherine Street area of Limerick city in October 2011 and again last May ended up on criminal charges before Limerick District Court last week. 20-year-old Alexandra Chera and 23-year-old mother of one, Larisa Sturzea, who was pregnant while working as a prostitute, had been promised a “totally different life than what it turned out to be”, when they left Romania and came to Ireland.
They were charged with loitering to solicit or importune others for the purposes of prostitution on dates in May. Both women pleaded guilty to the charges.
Murish Gavin solicitor for Ms Chera said his client was a 20-year-old woman who “was promised a totally different life than what it turned out to be and now she just wants to finalise these matters and go home”.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly convicted Ms Chera of the prostitution charge and applied the Probation act after he heard that she had made contact with certain services with a view to returning to Romania shortly.
However, the court heard that Ms Sturzea, who had since moved to Dundalk, was not in a position to return to Romania as her three-month-old child was subject of a HSE care order. However she did have access and contact with the infant.
Judge O’Kelly heard that the accused had now “regularised her life” and he adjourned the matter until May 9 and remanded her on continuing bail.
