A 17-YEAR-old girl who gardaí believe was trafficked into Ireland to work in the sex industry has been placed in the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The girl, arrested during a raid on a suspected brothel in Kilkenny city last month, appeared before Kilkenny District Court yesterday.
The teenager, who is from Nigeria and cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with failing to produce a valid passport or another form of identification.
Gardaí have no record of anyone by the girl's name entering the State, and Judge William Harnett has said it appeared she was brought here "most likely for the purpose of putting her into slavery".
The teenager has been held in a Dublin custodial centre since her arrest in Kilkenny on June 27th. She had told officers she had got a direct flight from Nigeria to Dublin.
Det Garda Liam Maher told an earlier sitting of the court "there are no such flights as all flights from Nigeria stop in the UK".
Michael Lanigan, solicitor for the teenager, had told Judge Harnett that a birth certificate had been received from authorities in Nigeria, and the teenager's identity established.
Judge Harnett yesterday granted an interim order of 28 days allowing her to be placed in the care of the HSE. He remanded her on continuing bail in the HSE's care to appear before Carlow District Court on August 19th.