Chances are you will find this story incredibly hard to believe. It's confronting and confounding, but it really happened. Raised in middle-class Sydney, Katie Lang's future was almost assured - exciting and prosperous. But her big mistake was to fall in love with the wrong man. Katie thought Damion Baston wanted to be her boyfriend. What he really wanted was to be her pimp. He used violence to control her, turning her into a sex slave and trafficking her around the world as a prostitute. But what this monster didn't anticipate was Katie's strength, and when she was finally able to escape his abuse, she set about plotting her revenge. Seduced by a monster: How an Australian woman who fell for a charismatic Jamaican traveller became a slave in his international sex trade ring... before giving evidence that sent him to prison for 27 years Katie Lang, 27, was forced into sex trade by Jamaican pimp Damion St Patrick Baston operated a global sex trafficking network He prostituted girls from Australia to Dubai and the United States He was convicted of 21 charges and sentenced to 27 years in prison A Gold Coast woman who spent 12 horrific months trapped in a global sex trafficking network has spoken publicly about how she escaped the clutches of a violent Jamaican pimp. Katie Lang, 27, was 'psychologically enslaved' by Damion St Patrick Baston and forced to work as a prostitute in Queensland, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and in the United States. She recalls one chilling moment when she refused Baston and he stuck a burning hot blade against her neck. 'I felt like he was going to slit my throat so I jumped up and he just threw me back down and he kept strangling me,' Katie recalls in an interview with 60 Minutes. Baston, 39, a former male stripper, was arrested in December 2013 by the US Department of Homeland Security. He was convicted in Florida in 2014 to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of 21 charges of sex trafficking. Florida District Court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Baston toting high-powered semi-automatic weapons, lying in bed covered in Australian bank notes, posing in a fox fur with a fistful of $100 bills, and wearing a bizarre pair of gold fangs. Six young women, including Ms Lang, another Australian and a New Zealander, gave evidence into the life of prostitution and stripping for money Baston made them take part in. In the interview, Ms Lang revealed how Baston used violence and threats against the women and their families to get them to do his bidding. 'I was so fearful of him not only hurting me but also hurting my family, he always used to say "I know where your grandma lives",' she said. 'I could put up with what I was going through but not knowing my family would be hurt. 'I basically just let go of myself and just let go of my soul and let him control me.' The 60 Minutes report paints Baston as a charismatic, imposing manipulator who showered women with expensive gifts and told them he loved them to lure them into his world. Ms Lang fell for Baston's story and they began a relationship. As his influence on her grew, she quit her university studies and work with the crisis support service Lifeline, and became increasingly isolated from her family. Baston is believed to have first set up a brothel on the Gold Coast in 2009. Ms Lang was forced to leave Australia and fly with him to Dubai amid threats that he would have 'his gang' harm her relatives if she didn't leave. She came home to Australia after a year when he US visa expired, promising Baston she would return when she could. But Baston was known to authorities and Ms Lang's US visa application prompted them to question her. Ms Lang agreed to testify against Baston, and became a critical part of the prosecution case. Baston was convicted by a jury on charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, importation of an alien for prostitution, transportation for prostitution, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Baston's lawyer insisted he had merely been a 'tourist'. His appeal will be heard on February 27.

• published: 06 Mar 2016
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