B.C. woman sentenced to 13 years for assault, kidnapping and sex trafficking

LANGLEY — A woman who was arrested in Langley in 2023 and later pleaded guilty to multiple charges in a child sex trafficking case in British Columbia has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The B.C. Prosecution Service says Jennifer Stephens has also been ordered to provide a DNA sample and report to the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years, and she has been handed a 10-year firearms ban.

Stephens’s crimes include unlawful confinement, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon, advertising sexual services and materially benefiting from sexual services provided by a person under 18 years old.

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.

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.

At one point, Stephens had faced the following charges:

• 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

A sentencing hearing for Stephens earlier this year included impact statements from her victims, who said she inflicted not only physical trauma, but psychological trauma that would take a lifetime to work through.

The Crown had sought a 13-year sentence for Stephens, while her lawyer had suggested she be sentenced to seven years with credit for time already served.

The prosecution service says Stephens has been granted credit for time spent in custody before her sentencing on Thursday and has about 8 1/2 years left to serve.

Police in Langley, B.C., started investigating the case in February 2023, beginning with a phone number that was linked to a 13-year-old girl who had been trafficked in Alberta and Kelowna, B.C.

An agreed statement of facts read out at the earlier sentencing hearing said services from the girl had been advertised on LeoList, an online escort platform.

It said photographs on the website led police to find victims at a Langley hotel.

Graphic videos played during the hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster had prompted a warning from Justice Terence Schultes, who said those in the courtroom should reconsider watching the disturbing content if they weren’t “battle-hardened by criminal proceedings.”

CAUTION: The following paragraphs contain graphic content some readers may find disturbing.

Videos played in court showed a man being pistol-whipped by Stephens, a woman being whipped by a curtain rod, and a man being sexually assaulted with the barrel of a gun.

One video showed a man being forced to insert his tongue and genitals into a desk fan, and another depicted a topless woman crawling along a floor, forced to eat dog food.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.

The Canadian Press

Fraser Valley Today reporter Mike Vanden Bosch contributed to this report.