Montgomery County, Maryland, United States
According to the indictment and affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, from April to May 2007 the defendants coerced a minor girl to engage in sex for pay. The indictment further alleges that Royal: coerced two additional minors to engage in sex, for which he was paid; threatened to harm the girls and their families; struck the girls; and held one of the girls at gun point. On several occasions, Royal gave the girls illegal drugs before forcing them to engage in sex with him. Royal drove the girls to hotels in Gaithersburg, Maryland, or caused them to be transported from Maryland to the District of Columbia, to have them engage in sex. The indictment and affidavit further allege that the defendants provided the girls with cocaine, "dippers" or "ciga-wets" (cigarettes dipped in phencyclidine liquid known as PCP), marijuana, and alcohol before coercing them to engage in sex with customers, and sometimes sold cocaine to customers. The defendants gave the girls instructions on pricing for different sexual acts and instructed the girls to lie about their ages. The affidavit also alleges that Bentolila provided her residence and a vehicle to facilitate the sex acts of two of the girls.