Native leader gets 100 days in jail after prostitute sting

A former First Nations leader has been sentenced to 100 days in jail for soliciting an underage prostitute.

Pierre (Rick) Joseph Simon pleaded guilty to child luring in June. His sentencing hearing was on Thursday.

Simon also faces two years probation and his name will go on the national sex offender registry for ten years.

His sentence came with a list of conditions including a ban on using the internet, except for work.

The former chief executive officer of the Shubenacadie First Nation must also stay away from anyone under the age of 18, unless they are members of his own family.

Simon was one of five men caught in a police sting in February.

Halifax Regional Police set up the operation after they noted an increase in the number of young women engaged in online prostitution.

An officer, playing the role of a 16-year-old teen girl, messaged online with men who agreed to pay for sex with the teen. The undercover officer exchanged hundreds of emails with adult men and arranged meetings for sexual services to take place at local hotels.

Simon said he thought she was the age of consent.

"Mr. Simon was unlikely to have done what he did had he been aware of the true age of consent," said Judge Bill Digby​.

The Crown asked for a five to six month sentence while the defence argued for 90 days to be served on weekends.

Digby said Simon's reputation was "tattered as a result of his actions."

Peter Lee White and Donald William Moore also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the undercover operation, while Mitchell Gary Kays-Rose and Alan Tek are fighting the charges.