CSEC2009
United States US
A five year old girl, Shaniya Davis, was reported missing on November 10th (Tuesday), 2009. Her mother was the one who reported that she had been abducted. Originally, her mother Antionette Davis had accused her boyfriend, Clarence D. Cole, of kidnapping Shaniya, and he was arrested and charged with kidnapping on Wednesday 11th, 2009. However, on Friday, November 13th, 2009, a man named Mario Andrette McNeil turned himself into police with a confession of kidnapping Shaniya. Police found survellience of McNeil with Shaniya taking her into a Stanford hotel at 6:11am, which is a two hour drive from Fayetteville, NC where she is from (this showed an inconsistency in the timing that her mother reported). At 9:12pm Staurday, November 14th, police charged Antionette Davis, Shaniya's mother, with human trafficking, felony child abuse, prostitution, filing a false police report, and resisting, obstructing or delaying justice. On Monday afternoon, November 16th, Shanyia was found dead on the side of highway 87 in North Carolina. The official cause of death was asphyxiation and autopsy results show that she was also raped. Further investigation showed that Shaniya's mother allegedly sold her into prostitution for monetary gain with the knowledge that she would be used for sex. Her father has suggested that the motive behind selling Shaniya was to pay off a drug debt. The case is ongoing and neither Antoinette or McNeil have been prosecuted yet. Both of their trail dates are set for late January, 2010.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The trafficker was arrested, charged, tried and convicted on 09/22/2010 of sex trafficking a 15-year old girl. He was also convicted of coercing a minor to engage in prostitution, harboring an illegal alien and failing to file a report with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Florence police, the FBI and ICE investigated the case.
Child Labor2009
United States US
This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest people who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Launched in July 2003, federal agents have arrested almost 12,000 individuals through Operation Predator.
CSEC2009
United States US
The case is being investigated by the FBI and Lakewood Police Department as part of the Innocence Lost Task Force. Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham and Bruce Miyake. Hospedale is charged with Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child. Sex Trafficking of a Juvenile is punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. CASE UPDATE: Hospedales pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on July 20, 2010, to Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child: Agreeing that the parties would advocate for a term of imprisonment of between ten to fifteen years in prison. A Sentencing on October 25, 2010, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle may impose the sentence he believes is appropriate from the mandatory minimum of ten years imprisonment up to the statutory maximum of life in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Hospedales is required to register as a sex offender when released from prison. The U.S. Army is in the process of dishonorably discharging Hospedales from the military.
Domestic Servitude2009
United States US
Angela Galeana de Maddox (34 years old) and her husband, Robert Doyle Maddox (55 years old), brought a 12 year old girl back from Mexico to work as a domestic servant. They bought the girl from her mother for $10 and made promises to send $50 a month. Galeana reportedly beat the girl several times. On one occasion she also tried to make the girl ingest water from a toilet. They plead guilty to charges of forced child labor. Galeana received 7 years imprisonment. Maddox received 2 years 9 months. They were also ordered to pay back wages.
Forced Labor2009
United States US
The girl told police she got involved when another minor female, who said she was being prostituted by the trafficker, told her she could make up to $100 for each man she had sex with, a police report states. One teenage girl told investigators she was given gas money to drive Trotter and another underage girl to different locations where they were paid to have sex, while yet another teenage girl told police the trafficker took her to a residence one night where she was paid to have sex with five men. One teenage girl interviewed by police denied being prostituted by the trafficker, instead, her "job" was to hand out condoms to the men to "protect the girls." The trafficker admitted introducing the girls to men who paid them for sex, but denied taking any money the girls were paid for sexual acts when she was interviewed by investigators, a police report states. The girls were threatened when they tried to stop being prostituted, and the trafficker took 1/2 of all money earned.
CSEC2009
United States US
" Officers busted a massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg this week, and found evidence that young immigrant women from China may have been forced to work as prostitutes at the New China Massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg. We've been told it was a busy place, with customers coming in every half an hour, day and night. With different groups of young Asian women providing massages, and police say prostitution. By the signs in the window it looks like a place to get a foot massage. But Fresno Police believe this place was selling sex. Numerous complaints and tips that there may be illegal activity going on, specifically prostitution," said Jeff Cardinale, Fresno Police Spokesperson."
Child Labor2009
China CN
All the 30 traffickers, led by Chen Qi Zai, are from Fuan, Fujian. They traffick/purchase infants from Guangxi, Yunan...; each child is priced around 30000-40000 yuan (around 5000 dollars), the traffickers typically add 3000-4000 rmb (400 dollars)then sell the kids for profit. They buy and sell a group of children on a monthly rate with a local who finds families that are interested in buying.
Sex Trafficking2009
Botswana BW
One local NGO received reports from Batswana women that they were forced to provide sexual services to tourists at some safari lodges; however, no complaints have been lodged with law enforcement officials. No other information is known about either the trafficker, the victims, or the specific location of the safari lodge/s.
Forced Labor2009
Botswana BW
The little I know, I got from this article: http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=1&dir=2007/June/Tuesday12 I really just wanted to get this town put on the map, as the article discusses it as an area adjacent to farms where there is most likely to be occurrence of child labour, that is linked to child trafficking in Botswana.
Child Labor2009
Uganda UG
No details available.
Child Labor2009
Georgia GE
27 medical workers were arrested on charges of participating in a baby trafficking network. Fourteen of the detainees belong to an organized criminal group that sold newborn children.
Sex Trafficking2009
South Korea KR
The traffickers confined the 2 runaway girls to a motel room, and among other victims, forced them to prostitute themselves, police said. The group of teenagers confined two 15-year-old runaway girls at a motel in northern Seoul, forced them to strip and hit each other on Feb. 21. They forced another victim they had confined, a 13-year-old girl, to film the scene of violence with a cell phone, telling the girls that they would spread the video clip on the Internet if they ran away. The boys, armed with a knife, kidnapped the two girls by car Monday and threatened to kill them if they refused to prostitute themselves. They also attempted to rape the girls. The girls managed to escape, but the teenage gang uploaded the footage on their blogs. With the video clip enraging Internet users, they removed it, but police tracked them down. They are also suspected of having pimped three girls over 60 times and made five million won between last October and November.
CSEC2009
United States US
A state grand jury has indicted 15 illegal immigrants on suspicion of operating a prostitution ring that dates back to at least 2006. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers told 7NEWS that the group operated 11 brothels in Denver, Longmont and Glenwood Springs. Suthers said the brothels operated under the name Mi Casa Su Casa and were headed by Sonia Montoya-Cadena. At each location, the indictment said, the brothels would collect $40 to $50 from each patron for 15 minutes of sex. The house would split the money with the prostitutes. After the patrons paid for sex, they would receive a glass bead or other object to give the prostitutes to show they had paid, the indictment alleged.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Jermaine Rogers was charged with human trafficking, kidnapping/seizure or confinement without consent, and 2nd degree sexual assault with use of force.
CSEC2009
United States US
No information released other than boyfriend of victim. He sold his then 14-year old girlfriend to 7 adult males for meth. She fought back but was overpowered because she had been bought.
Child Labor2009
Congo CG
The victim was studying at school when members of a militia group abducted him and 11 other boys from his secondary school. The soldiers drove them to a training camp and put them in a pit in the ground. Those who resisted were beaten. The victim was stabbed in the stomach and tied up until he submitted to the training. He endured difficult training with some 60 other children, including a number of girls. They were fed one plate of maize meal a day to share among 12 people. He watched people die from starvation and illness. When the soldiers killed those who tried to escape, they forced him and other children to bury the bodies.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Law enforcement had been involved from the beginning of the case. Originally, they were investigating the missing persons report until it became a trafficking case. Both Galindo and Martinez were arrested. Galindo was cited for statutory rape and released. In February, Martinez pleaded not guilty to procuring a child for lewd acts, aiding and abetting statutory rape and child endangerment. On April 7, 2009, Martinez changed his plea to no contest, in exchange for reduced charges of felony child endangerment. Under the conditions of the plea bargain, he will serve up to a year in jail and face deportation after that.
Sex Trafficking2009
Canada CA
"Police said today the 18-year-old girl arrived in Hamilton May 28, 2009 and had already been reported missing from a Burlington residence to Halton police. They say she met McCarthy downtown while walking in the core area and he “immediately started to engage her in conversation which turned to the discussion of prostitution and how she could make money for sex,” said Sergeant Terri-Lynn Collings. The conversation continued and, eventually, the girl was allegedly instructed by McCarthy to engage in prostitution and told the money she received was to be turned over to him. She “was escorted into a downtown business where she engaged in a sex act for money,” Collings said. Hamilton police located the girl with McCarthy a short time after she left the premises. She was returned to her residence in Burlington." Source for all data (thespec.com): http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/603309
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.
Bonded Labor2009
Germany DE
Police arrested two Chinese men and a woman in Hanover. The trio had founded a firm to orchestrate their smuggling activities, according to criminal investigations. The three Chinese held in custody - aged 46, 38 and 35 - are thought to be the chief operators in the trafficking ring. For years, the traffickers are said to have smuggled more than 1,000 Chinese into Germany and to have exploited them in abusive working conditions. Chinese emigrants paid 10,000 euros ($14,000) for a valid visa and work contract as so-called specialty cooks. But upon arrival in Germany they were forced to surrender their passports, essentially putting them in "debt servitude," Frank Federau,spokesman for the Hanover State Office of Criminal Investigation said. The immigrants were made to work as chefs for up to 80 or 90 hours a week, at an hourly wage of 3 euros ($4.23). Their lack of German language skills made it difficult for the immigrants to complain. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4580456,00.html
Sex Trafficking2009
South Africa ZA
The Article: FOR millions of football fans across the globe, next year's World Cup will be the time of their lives. But for Winnie Khumalo, it will bring only more pain to her miserable existence. Just 14, she is one of around 10,000 child prostitutes working in the shadow of Johannesburg's awesome, Soccer City stadium. Map ... Soccer City, South Africa Last night the final nations qualified for the tournament - with the hope of reaching the final at the amazing arena, which seats 95,000 fans and cost a staggering £120million. In stark contrast, punters pay Winnie £2.40 for sex with her. Shockingly, she has been a prostitute since she was 11, and now sleeps with up to 20 men a day. And she knows just what next year's influx of tens of thousands of World Cup tourists to the city will mean for her - and other poor young girls lured to the city with the hopes of finding a job and a better life. Speaking in her native Zulu through a translator, Winnie says: "Other girls from villages like mine think the World Cup will give them jobs as waitresses or cleaners. But they will be caught by men who promise them a nice life." Winnie, who is too scared of her brothel bosses to escape, adds: "I did not choose to do this. I wish I could get out but it's no use." Her ordeal began when she left her home in a township near Port Shepstone three years ago and travelled the 600 miles to Johannesburg in search of work as a housemaid. A brothel owner's henchman spotted her on the street, befriended her and lured her to a house, promising to take care of her. Winnie says: "On my third day in the city the guy I met showed me upstairs and said, 'This is your room'. Then he gave me alcohol and wanted to come to bed with me. Beer "I didn't know what was going on but when he was on top of me it hurt so much. Then he brought another man to my room and when I protested, he hit me. So I started drinking more beer." Promise of new life ... South Africa World Cup Our investigators find Winnie after entering the brothel in the dark streets of Hillbrow, an inner-city district so dangerous that even the police fear to patrol there. She is wearing a clingy silver dress that is meant to be sexy, but it is draped on the body of an adolescent. She says poignantly: "Men like me because I am young and do what they ask. When I began this work my chest was flat - my breasts have grown since then. "Now I'm getting a bit older they probably won't be so interested for much longer." Winnie's warning to other young girls was this week echoed by organisations in South Africa who believe the World Cup will put children in host cities such as Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town in danger of being sexually exploited. World Cup head of security Linda Mti says she is working with intelligence agencies to identify "unsavoury elements". The Department of Social Development has announced that a Child Protection Action Plan will be operational by March. All Winnie can hope is that these measures will prevent others falling into the same dismal life as hers. She shares her room with three other girls, taking turns to service men behind the bars of her door on a ten-cell corridor filled with the stale stench of crack cocaine. Her legs are scarred from rough sex and beatings and she operates with a knife under her pillow. She says: "I am less frightened these days, but when a man puts a gun to my head I want to scream. World class ... Joburg's Soccer City stadium "That happens quite often, especially when they want to do it without a condom. At times like that, I decide I will run away. It's like I have a flash of light or something. It makes me want to go back to school, I want to have a good life. But if I go out into the street, the boss follows me and brings me back. He has people everywhere. I'm scared to break his rules." To get through her daily ordeal, Winnie drinks, morning and night. She says: "They tried to make me do drugs but I always say no. My brain is the last power I'll give up. "I beg the police and the teachers in schools to tell girls what this place is really like." Statistics released by the South African Professional Society On The Abuse of Children indicate around 530 child rapes occur every day across the country, though fewer than 60 are reported to police. Officials believe children are the victims in 45 per cent of all rape cases nationwide. Advertisement Domestic crimes contribute to the alarming figures, but child prostitution is responsible for a large proportion. Many victims are trafficked and the vast majority become infected with HIV. For teenagers such as Winnie things can seem desperate yet there is a glimmer of hope - just a mile down the road, charity workers at the New Life Centre offer vulnerable sex workers a second chance. They visit the 100-odd brothels operating above bars in the rundown district, giving health advice and urging young girls to break free. Manager Khopotso Nakin says wealthy gang lords are grooming underage girls as upmarket hookers aimed at fans including the 25,000 England supporters set to descend on South Africa. She says: "They persuade beautiful young girls that the World Cup will mean new jobs and a bright future. They put several at a time into homes they have bought here in the city. "Victims come from Thailand, Eastern Europe and even China. They never see the light again. Many men who are offered their beautiful bodies will not realise how young they are. "They appear clean and willing, but actually they are locked in squalid rooms most of the time. "I hope very much that one day Winnie comes to us, but it is incredibly hard for someone like her to break the cycle and have the courage that she will escape unharmed." Pimp Another prostitute, 25-year-old Nolukhanyo Vasi, was infected with HIV as a teenager after her aunt sold her to a pimp at the age of 14. Unfair game ... Nolukhanyo Vasi MILLER & MACLEAN She now helps the desperate new arrivals at the New Life Centre come off drugs, get medical treatment and set about finding alternative work. But the charity can pay her just £48 a month. And with a £32 rent bill to pay and a young son to feed, she is forced to continue working the streets. She says: "Life is hard and when I have no money to eat, I force myself to do it again. It's never been as hard as the first time. "My aunt had brought me from my home village and I trusted her. She told me and my parents I could live at her house. But one day she took me to a bar in town. "She pulled a mini-skirt, high heels and a backless white top out of her bag and told me to put them on. "A guy came over to us and asked, 'How much?' I didn't understand what was going on. Then my aunt said to me, 'Look, if you want to have money here you must sleep with a man'. "They took me upstairs to a room with a bed in it. The man handed my aunt some coins and before she left she put a condom on him. She knew I had no idea about things like that. "It was very painful and I was crying, but the man told me to stop being selfish. "I never saw my aunt again. The manager was good to me for a while but when I grew up a bit he got tired of me. "If I refused to do what he said he would beat me with a leather whip." Nolukhanyo dreads telling her nine-year-old son she has no idea who his father is. She says: "How can I admit to him I was a prostitute? "He is free of HIV, thank God, but we both will carry that shame for ever. "I can no longer have a relationship with a man. I have never been treated as a woman, just a thing. "When you are mistreated at such a young age you just expect to be damaged by everyone. "If any young girl thinks coming to Johannesburg in 2010 will bring her happiness, she should think again." To donate to the New Life Centre, email newlifeforgirls@yahoo.com.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John Morton, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York; Richard Dormer, Suffolk County Police Commissioner; Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office; and Patricia J. Haynes, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, New York. The joint investigation revealed that Antonio Rivera, a Registered Sex Offender, and his sister Jasmin Rivera owned and operated the Sonidos de la Frontera bar, located in Lake Ronkonkoma, and the La Hija del Mariachi bar, located in Farmingville. Whaley was employed as a manager in both bars. From September 2007 through the present, the Riveras and Whaley allegedly lured young women, primarily Central American illegal immigrants, to work in the bars as waitresses and hostesses. Some of the women were as young as 17 years of age. As set forth in the complaint, after the women began working in the bars, the defendants forced them to engage in sex acts with bar patrons in exchange for money, with the defendants keeping half of the proceeds. When the women refused or resisted, the defendants used physical force, including rape and assaults, and threatened to report the women to immigration authorities. The defendants also controlled the movement of the women between the bars and other locations in Hempstead, Huntington, and Brentwood, transporting them in vehicles registered to the Riveras and Whaley. The complaint also charges the defendants with conspiring to harbor illegal aliens by concealing the women’s true identities and immigration status from state licensing agencies and law enforcement authorities. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Dormer stated, “These serious crimes against young women will not be tolerated in Suffolk County. This Department values its role as the local law enforcement component of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force for Long Island. This case demonstrates the effectiveness of the task force paradigm, which coordinates the efforts of local and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as community service agencies, support groups, and educational entities. We hope these arrests will put others on notice that sex trafficking and similar crimes will continue to be a high priority for this Department.” The details of the investigation cannot be found yet, but one article reports: While dozens of women have been working in the bars, the raids are based on evidence provided by four of them who have been cooperating with investigators, according to court papers and sources. One of the women told investigators that she entered the country illegally and was recruited by the operators of the ring as a waitress when she was 17, the court papers said. She said she was repeatedly raped by one of the operators, according to court papers. To stop the rapes, she said she created an imaginary boyfriend. But her attacker told her "Boyfriend! Watch what I'm going to do to you. Your boyfriend will never want to touch you again." Shortly after, a security guard at the club bashed "her head into the pavement of the parking lot" breaking several teeth and causing black eyes, bruises and lacerations, the papers said. Several of the women said that they had been recruited to work as waitresses through ads on Spanish-language Internet sites and newspapers, promising pay of $40 a day plus tips, and half of the price of the $20 shots of tequila they sold to the undocumented clientele, according to papers. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko said the town had been cooperating with the police and federal investigation.
Forced Labor2009
United States US
Benny and Nissan Pirian (owners of Celebrity Carwash, Five Star Carwash and Hollywood Carwash) and Manuel Rayes (owner of Vermont Hand wash) are up against a maximum of 80 years in prison, over $136,000 in fines each and 176 counts of criminal misconduct, witness intimidation, grand theft, brandishing a deadly weapon (used bat and machete after workers joined union), failure to pay wages (they often paid less than half of minimum wage), hiring minors, operating without workers' compensation insurance, denying workers meal and rest breaks, giving the works recycled water and failure to comply with wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Many workers also suffered numerous cuts and burns from the dangerous machinery and chemicals used in the carwashes.