This page describes exploitation and abuse. Need to report something? How to report →
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
The investigation began Friday when sheriff’s detectives responded to an ad on Backpage, a website similar to Craigslist for selling merchandise and seeking services. The ad promised sex for cash and provided a picture of a girl, police said. Through e-mails, the officers arranged to meet the girl at the Howard Johnson Hotel at 17301 S. Oak Ave. in Lansing. When the undercover officers arrived, they found Tyrelle Lockett standing in front of the hotel with the girl, police said. When the officer went into the designated hotel room and met the girl, there were obvious and visible signs she had been a victim of repeated acts of violence, Patterson said. After an agreement was reached to exchange sex for cash, the officer took the girl into custody. Nearby officers arrested Tyrelle Lockett, who was found in possession of nearly all of the girl’s personal items," Patterson said. Investigators learned he refused to allow her access any of her things unless she performed the acts he demanded, Patterson said.
Response and intervention
Each are charged with trafficking in persons for forced labor or services, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor and involuntary servitude, all felonies. The victims have been referred for services with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department of Women’s Justice Services, which provides counseling, links to assistance and other rehabilitative services for at-risk women.