Sentencing begins for Fraser Valley woman convicted of sex trafficking of minors, assault

According to a news statement released by Cpl. Craig van Herk, former spokesperson for the Langley RCMP, Serious Crime detectives from the Langley RCMP launched an investigation into reports of human trafficking in spring 2023. Police say that on March 7, 2023, Langley RCMP received a 9-1-1 call from a gas station near a hotel in the 20400 block of 88 Avenue in the Township of Langley. The attendant reported that an injured, distressed adult female walked in and asked to call police. Frontline officers responded and while providing first aid to the woman, constables were directed to a nearby hotel. This investigation led to the charge of assault being filed against Jennifer Lynn Stephens.

In July 2023, Stephens was slated to appear in court on the Langley charges but failed to attend, leading to a Canada-wide warrant being issued for her arrest.

Jennifer Lynn Stephens. (Image Credit: Facebook.)

Langley Serious Crime investigators continued to gather evidence to support charges and make submissions to the B.C. Prosecution Service. On December 7, 2023, Langley Serious Crime investigators located and arrested Stephens on her outstanding warrants.

Court documents state photographs on the LeoList website led police to a Langley hotel where the victims lived and worked, and officers later discovered videos on a phone showing Stephens and her associates doling out violent beatings and at least one sexual assault.

The document says Stephens boasted about having a Snapchat account with “500 clients,” a list she said she refused to sell to other “pimps.”

Langley RCMP formally announced in December 2023 that Stephens was facing more than a dozen offences stemming from a 9-1-1 call from a Langley gas station on the morning of March 7, 2023.

Mounties at the time said that a gas station attendant called after an “injured, distressed adult female” came in asking for help, and the woman directed police to the nearby hotel where officers arrested Stephens and two associates.

Surrey RCMP received a call from out of province that same day reporting videos posted on Stephens’ Snapchat account that showed a violent beating of one of her victims, who later told police that she’d been assaulted for several hours in the hotel room.

The court document says police also found the 13-year-old victim in the hotel room, but “at the time they did not know her identity and she spat at an officer and refused to identify herself.”

The document also outlines how Stephens tried to “re-establish” her sex trafficking operation a week after her arrest, complaining to an associate over text messages that police had “got” her and were trying to “harass a pimp.”

Stephens was charged with assault, but failed to appear in court that July, and she was arrested by authorities on a Canada-wide warrant on Dec. 7, 2023.

She pleaded guilty to 17 charges in January 2025.

Those charges included the following:

Trafficking in Persons – Sec. 279.01
Material Benefit – Trafficking a person under 18 years – Sec. 279.02 (2 counts)
Material Benefit from Sexual Services of a person under 18 years – Sec. 286.1
Procuring – Person under 18 years – Sec. 286.3 (2 counts)
Forcible Confinement – Sec. 279(2)
Assault Causing Bodily Harm – Sec. 267 (b)
Assault with a Weapon -Sec. 267(a) (2 counts)
Utter Threats – Sec. 264.1
Trafficking of a Person Under 18 Years – Sec. 279.011
Material Benefit from Sexual Services -Sec. 286.2
Advertising Sexual Services – Sec. 286.4

“Due to the often-hidden nature and complexity of these offences, human trafficking charges are rare in Canada,” said Inspector Erica Moir, Operations Support Officer of Langley RCMP. “Our investigators worked closely with partners allowing us to support the victims, identify a suspect and successfully obtain the evidence necessary forward criminal charges.”

Due to the complexity of this investigation and multiple offences committed in multiple locations, Langley RCMP investigators sought technical and logistical assistance from the Surrey RCMP, Vancouver Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit, RCMP E Division Behavioural Sciences Unit, RCMP Digital Forensic Services, and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) interview team.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Sentencing begins for Fraser Valley woman convicted of sex trafficking of minors, assault

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