Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Justin Cephus, 31, Stanton Cephus, 28, and Jovan Stewart, 30, all of Hammond, Haneef Jackson-Bey, 20, of East Chicago, and Delbert Patterson, 19, of Steger, Ill., have been charged with conspiring to commit and committing sex trafficking and prostitution violations involving 16 minor and young-adult females. From approximately February 2006 until January 2009, the defendants, led by Justin Cephus, who is charged in each of the 21 counts, ran a prostitution business out of his home and various other locations in and around Hammond,” the statement said. “The business, which advertised in the Yellow Pages in Illinois and Indiana under the names ‘Beauty Escorts,’ ‘Beautiful Entertainment,’ and ‘The Finest and the Best,’ provided sexual services to callers from Northwest Indiana and the Chicago, Ill., area.” “Defendants used a variety of tactics to recruit girls and keep them working for the business, according to the indictment, including handing out business cards to pretty girls at retail outlets and telling them that the business involved ‘promotions,’ ‘modeling,’ ‘house cleaning,’ ‘private dancing,’ or ‘massage therapy,’” the statement said. * Source: http://chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/7893%20fbi_seeks_info_in_sex_traffickin.htm (Retrieved 7/20/09)
Sex Trafficking2010
United States US
Police sent undercover officers into the spa as clients. According to the report, the officers were offered sexual acts if they paid. Police also found advertisements for the business online, although it wasn't clear that the advertisements were for sexual acts. Arrested were Min Ye, 37, and Wendy Yao, no age given. No charges have been filed.
CSEC2009
United States US
Justin Cephus, 31, Stanton Cephus, 28, and Jovan Stewart, 30, all of Hammond, Haneef Jackson-Bey, 20, of East Chicago, and Delbert Patterson, 19, of Steger, Ill., have been charged with conspiring to commit and committing sex trafficking and prostitution violations. The indictment charges all five with participating in the conspiracy and committing one or more offenses involving the sex trafficking of minors, the transportation of minors across state lines for the purpose of prostitution, the sex trafficking of adult women through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, and the transportation of minor and adult women form Indiana to Illinois and from Illinois to Indiana for the purposes of prostitution. Prosecutors say the defendants were brutal with the prostitutes. The defendants and others who were not charged Tuesday punched, kicked, cut, choked and sexually assaulted prostitutes, according to the charges. The defendants intimidated the prostitutes, attacking women within sight or earshot of other women, the indictment claims. The defendants gave the women cocaine, Ecstasy, Xanax and other drugs "as a means of numbing their senses," the indictment states.