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A resident of the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough who sexually assaulted and extorted sex from several teenage girls brought his trial to an abrupt end on Wednesday after deciding to plead guilty to half of the charges he faced.

Walid Mustapha Chalhoub, 33, made the surprise decision while his trial, on 48 charges in all, was in its second week. When it started on Jan. 5, prosecutor Rachelle Pitre estimated the trial would last at last three weeks. But on Wednesday Chalhoub, who was detained, arrived at the courthouse and opted to plead guilty to 24 of the charges, including several counts of sexual assault and extortion. Later in the day, he was sentenced to an 11-year prison term.

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The guilty pleas apply to all 10 of the victims that Chalhoub was accused of abusing. He sexually abused eight teenage girls after they were lured to his apartment on the promise they’d make easy money for unspecified work. The girls, between the ages of 15 and 17, signed the vague contracts but were quickly informed, by Chalhoub that the agreements called for them to have sex with him or they’d have to pay a penalty — for example $3,500. He was also charged with threatening a 16-year-old girl who refused to have sex with him and with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman he had dated for a while.