Accused sex-slaver granted bail ahead of retrial for enslaving Thai women in Sydney

Accused sex-slaver Rungnapha Kanbut has been released on bail to live in country NSW as she awaits retrial for allegedly enslaving two Thai women in Sydney brothels.

Rungnapha Kanbut leaves court during her slavery and money laundering trial. She has always maintained her innocence and has been bailed ahead of a retrial this year. Picture: AAP Image

An accused sex-slaver has been released on bail to live in country NSW as she prepares to fight a retrial of allegations she enslaved two Thai women by having them work off a massive debt in Sydney brothels.

Rungnapha Kanbut, on Tuesday, appeared on a video screen in Downing Centre District Court to ask for bail from Dilwynnia women’s prison where she has been held since mid-2019.

Kanbut, in 2019, was locked up after a jury found her guilty of confiscating the passports of two Thai sex workers and forcing them to work off a $45,000 “debt” by working in Sydney brothels.

The Thai women, who can only be identified by the pseudonyms X and Y, were allegedly made to live with Kanbut under her control, the courts heard.

Kanbut was given more than eight years in prison for slavery and money laundering but launched an appeal saying she never coerced the women into sex work.

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, in December last year, concluded that the trial judge, in 2019, gave a misleading direction about tendency evidence used in the case against Kanbut.

The appeal court overturned her convictions and ordered a retrial.

Kanbut, on Tuesday, was bailed by Judge Michael McHugh to live with her former partner in the town of Parkes while she awaits her retrial later this year.

The 60-year-old clasped her hands together in prayer and thanked Judge McHugh when she learned she would walk out, all but free because of strict bail conditions, for the first time in three and a half years.

The first trial heard evidence from X and Y who claimed their journey to Australia began with a Thai man known only as Mr Chang who had photographed them naked and threatened to leak the photographs online if they fled.

The women, in evidence, told the court they passed through immigration using fake stories and were passed on to Kanbut and her then-husband to live with them.

Kanbut’s former partner is not accused of any wrong doing.

One of the women alleged she had to work for 12 hours a day and had to work while on her period before giving her earnings to Kanbut.

“I will have to live with the scars of these experiences for the rest of my life,” she told the court.

The Court of Criminal Appeal noted there was no dispute, in the first trial, that Kanbut was part of a scheme to smuggle Thai sex workers into Australia.

The dispute, the judges found, was whether she assisted those sex workers or coerced them.

The second trial will take place later this year.