Sex Trafficking in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2024)

A sex trafficking case from 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. 1 source on file.

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What happened

Native American and First Nation women and girls were targeted for sex trafficking by a Minneapolis man operating an illicit massage business. Victims were coerced into commercial sex through force, threats, fraud and coercion and advertised through Backpage. The investigation involved the Minnesota BCA, HSI, Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force and Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office. The defendant was federally convicted and sentenced to 400 months in prison. Accused: Gang members exploiting missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis.

Response and intervention

Minnesota BCA and tribal law enforcement. Federal prosecution under Indian Country jurisdiction. Minnesota Indian Women Sexual Assault Coalition.

Sources

Star Tribune (opens in a new tab)

Nearby cases

All 906 in the United States →

CSEC2009

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 2009

United States US

Law enforcement received an anonymous email from a "john" suggesting that Warren may have been using juveniles. Police followed the lead to one of Warren's ads and initiated an undercover sting operation. The sting agent responded to the ad and met the 23 yr old at a Minneapolis hotel bar, where she said she could provide a 16 yr old for an additional fee. Police surveillance captured Warren driving the sisters to the hotel, where the three were subsequently arrested. Tye 23 yr old claims to have been prostituted since the age of 15, and that a heroin dependency kept her in the business. A large amount of heroin was discovered in Warren's car.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2008

Minneapolis, United States, 2008

United States US

The trafficker has a history of sex trafficking and violent crimes, was charged in December 2006 with recruiting a 16-year-old Rogers girl into a life of prostitution and stripping jobs. On Monday, U.S. District Judge David Doty ordered McNeal to spend more than 24 years in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime on supervised release. That made McNeal the first casualty in U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose's year-old initiative to crack down on human trafficking.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2011

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 2011

United States US

case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016