Blanchardstown brothel owner pledges to leave Ireland
A Romanian woman who ran a brothel in Blanchardstown has avoided a jail term today on the condition that she returns to her country within a week.
Florentina Gerea (aged 29) of Parkgate, Verdamount Apartments, Blanchardstown pleaded guilty to operating a brothel in the Westend Village apartments also in Blanchardstown in July 2009.
Sergeant Aaron Gormley told Colm O'Briain BL, prosecuting, that investigating gardaí obtained a search warrant after observing a number of men “coming to and fro” at the apartment.
He told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that several gardaí raided the apartment on the July 7, 2009 and found Ms Gerea and another woman working there.
During the search, gardaí found items linking Ms Gerea to the apartment including an ESB bill in her name and the letting agreement.
Sgt Gormley said a laptop, which was open on Ms Gerea's online escort profile, and a sex toy were also found during the search.
He said that Ms Gerea admitted that the two women were working as prostitutes and that she was in charge.
Defence Counsel, Breffni Gordon BL, told the court that his client has no previous convictions and had come to Ireland “in search of a better life”.
He said that it had not been a good experience for her and that her only wish was to return to her country because her father is seriously ill. Mr Gordon also told the court that she has lost three brothers to illness.
The court heard that Ms Gerea wants to enrol in a third-level course in Romania to become a qualified nurse and that a conviction would cause her “great difficulty”.
He asked the judge for “sympathy”, before adding: “The embarrassment of this will stay with her for life and it is worse than any sentence the court could hand out.”
He said she had been living in “poverty” and that she got involved in prostitution “purely as a means to an end”.
The court also heard that another man had been involved with the running of the brothel but that Ms Gerea has severed all ties with him.
Judge Patrick McCartan questioned whether Ms Gerea really wanted to go back to Romania and said he was concerned she would simply return to Blanchardstown.
He told Ms Gerea that she has seven days to leave the country and adjourned the case until January next year to make sure she has remained away from Ireland.
