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CSECArchive 2008–2016

CSEC in Nashville, Tennessee (2009)

A CSEC case from 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. 1 source on file.

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What happened

DOJ Press Release - 12/24/09 ================= Nashville, Tennessee Woman Sentenced on Sex Trafficking Charges . http://memphis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/me122409.htm . Nashville, TN Cristina Andres Perfecto pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2007, to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion and sex trafficking of a juvenile in the Western District of Tennessee, as well as one count of conspiracy in the Middle District of Tennessee. . Perfecto’s co-defendant, Juan Mendez, pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Perfecto and Mendez each admitted to fraudulently luring two young girls, including a 13-year-old, from rural Mexico to Tennessee with the intent of forcing them into prostitution. . Both further admitted that Mendez, with Perfecto’s assistance, physically, verbally, and sexually abused the victims in order to coerce them into prostitution. . Nine other defendants had earlier pleaded guilty in this same case for crimes including: child sex trafficking, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit money laundering, enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to commit prostitution, and violating the Mann Act.

Response and intervention

Cristina Andres Perfecto of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced in federal court in Memphis to 190 months in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; sex trafficking of a juvenile; and conspiracy, the Justice Department announced. . Perfecto’s co-defendant, Juan Mendez, was sentenced to 50 years in prison on June 27, 2008, after pleading guilty to child sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker for the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case. The investigation was led by Memphis FBI Agent Tracey Harris and Memphis U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Greg Swearngin. They were assisted by ICE agents in Nashville, the Memphis Police Department, the Nashville Police Department, and FBI and ICE agents from around the country who lent their expertise to the investigation. Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, the YWCA, and World Relief have assisted the victims and witnesses in this matter.

Sources

Nearby cases

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CSEC2011

Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 2011

United States US

Prontiss Houseworth, 18, of Conyers, Georgia was arrrested Friday August 26, 2011 at the Knights Inn on Spring Street in Nashville, TN and charged with four counts of trafficking for sexual servitude, one count of promoting prostitution and a weapon charge for allegedly carrying brass knuckles. Police found four young women — two 18-year-olds, a 23-year-old and a 24-year-old — with Houseworth but consider them victims in Houseworth’s alleged crimes. According to police, the man forced the women to travel with him from Atlanta to Nashville where an undercover officer, responding to the online ad, met two of the women at the motel and made a deal to have sex with them for $180 plus a $20 tip. One of the alleged victims told police Houseworth threatened to kill the women and their families if the women didn’t cooperate with him, calling them “slaves” and saying “the only way that they could leave was in a body bag,” according to a police affidavit. One of the women also allegedly told police Houseworth punched her in the head and duct-taped her hands together and her mouth shut.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2020

Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 2020

United States US

A 16-year-old Mexican worker recruited through a church youth program died on a Nashville construction site in 2020. His family's attorney alleged that the construction company engaged in human trafficking by recruiting young Mexican men for hazardous work, in violation of child labor laws.

1 source
Sex Trafficking2008

Nashville, Tennesee, United States, 2008

United States US

The Nashville Police Department originally prosecuted the case under the first use of the state's anti-trafficking law. The district attorney, seemingly less interested in prosecuting the case, played softball with the accused traffickers and what should have been an 8-year sentence for trafficking sex victims across Florida, Georgia and Tennessee state lines. The traffickers ended up with 6 months and are likely to be deported by ICE.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016