Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
The trafficker is Harrison "Hardbody" Norris, a former professional wrestler. He has two residences in Cartersville, GA. It is known that he has been running prostitution rings in Atlanta, GA since 2001. Norris, with several partners, operated a scheme where they recruited vulnerable women and promised them that they could train to be professional wrestlers. Instead, the women were held captive, physically abused, held in debt, and forced to perform numerous sexual acts against their will. Norris also had several of the women perform domestic work on his house such as painting and laying sod.
Forced Labor2008
United States US
Two people have been arrested for allegedly withholding pay from two of their employees and threatening them with deportation. The FBI took Young Jo Kwon and his wife, Jessie Kwon, into custody Tuesday and charged them with five counts of theft and forgery. The Kwons are accused of forcing two South Korean immigrant employees to work without pay while they were the owners of Osaka Sushi in Denver. They allegedly threatened two of their employees with the revocation of their "sponsorship," which the Kwons claimed would result in the deportation of the employees' families. One of the informed the FBI that Young Jo Kwon claimed ties to the Korean mafia, and Kwon allegedly told Choi "he knew how to hurt someone who did not obey."
CSEC2008
United States US
Jorge Flores-Rojas, 44, an undocumented Mexican national trafficked two illegal minors between Charlotte, NC and Washington DC, one 17 year old Mexican girl and one 16 year old Honduran girl. He physically assaulted and abused the 16 year old Honduran girl, in order to make her perform the sexual acts. Jorge Flores-Rojas paid other persons to smuggle these victims from Mexico into the United States.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Four women were arrested in connection with a prostitution ring. The women, who were not identified, are in Geauga County Safety Center awaiting a Korean interpreter. Geauga Sheriff Dan McClelland said they are awaiting the interpreter to get the women's names, citizenship status and charges sorted out. One woman was taken to University Hospital's Geauga Health Center for treatment after she suffered an anxiety attack. Sheriff officials launched an undercover investigation after learning that the spa, 8386 Mayfield Road, offered more than massages.
CSEC2008
Thailand TH
Wan* was supposed to die. She had been sold to be a human sacrifice to a village seeking gold. That sounds awful, and it is, but her story is even sadder than that. At age 8, her brother-in-law forced her to come and look after his children. Wan knew he wasn’t a nice man from her sister, who had been forced into marriage with him. It wasn’t very long before he raped her. And not too long after that, he sold her to a village who believed a human sacrifice would help them find gold. Thanks to a brave man who rescued Wan, she ended up, broken and afraid, on the doorstep of HOR.
CSEC2008
Peru PE
No information is know other than the 16 year old was forced to be a prostitute and dance in a club for 2 years
Forced Labor2008
Paraguay PY
A group of homeless children were recruited to work at a shopping mall to help the customers carry their bags and to also clean the bathrooms, the floors, and parking lots of the mall. They were promised compensation from the shopping mall but what they got were only the tips from some of the costumers. The children were afraid of saying something to the owners because they knew that they could lose even the tips from the customers. However, a small group of courageous kids protested for their salary. The owners immediately fired the protesters, cleared them out of the area, and did not pay them for their work. They made sure to tell everyone that letting the children receive a tip and stay in the mall during the day is more than enough.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
The trafficker imported Asian women for the use of forced prostitution in the Coure de Lane area.
CSEC2008
United States US
Jose Tecum trafficked Maria Choz from her home in Guatemala through Mexico and Arizona to his home in Southern Florida. The victim was forced to work on Tecum’s tomato-picking crew during the day, and required to give Tecum her earnings. At night, she was sexually assaulted by Tecum, who destroyed her identification cards.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Ashley was arrested for prostitution, and then emancipated.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
In 2001, Elizabeth Jackson arranged to have Nena Ruiz (of the Philippines) brought to the U.S. to work as traveling companion and caretaker for Jackson's mother. After arrival, Ruiz lived with Jackson and her husband James. Jackson then confiscated the victim's passport, and used intimidation and threats of deportation to keep her from leaving. The victim was forced to work 16-18-hour days while being paid less than $400 a year. The victim, Nena Ruiz, was also forced to sleep on a dog bed in the family's living room. Elizabeth also hit the pulled the victim's hair, and hit her.
CSEC2008
United States US
Marlin Williams has been convicted of human trafficking and is due for his sentencing in November, 2008. He could be sentenced for 46 months up to 54 years.
CSEC2008
United States US
Most recently, two incidents in the beginning of 2008 brought DMST into the public eye. The first involved the arrest of two minors, one charged with prostitution and the other with compelling prostitution. One of the 13 year old girls was detained for soliciting a date of prostitution from an undercover Vice officer. The CE/HRVTU was notified and an investigation was initiated. During the investigation another 13 year old was identified. The 13 year old who was arrested for prostitution was placed at Letot, a public-private organization that partners with the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Department. The 13 year old later (placed at Letot) told police she was invited to the nightclub and compelled into prostitution by her friend, the other 13-year-old recovered from the nightclub. The second 13-year-old was arrested for compelling prostitution as a result of her actions (Recruiting, Directing, etc.). Reports suggest that an adult associated with the 13-year-old is involved.19 Confirmed through an interview with the DPD, CE/HRVTU an adult female was arrested and charged with Felony Child Endangerment related to the exploitation of both girls. The adult female was the aunt of the 13 year old who was arrested for compelling prostitution.
CSEC2008
United States US
Ms. Abrams and Mr. Bell, the woman and man involved, are being charged on felony counts for sexual performance of a child, as well as organized crime.
CSEC2008
United States US
George Udeozor, 52, formerly of Darnestown, Md., was sentenced today for holding a 14-year-old Nigerian girl in involuntary servitude, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Udeozor to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Udeozor was also ordered to pay $110,249.60 in restitution to the victim. ccording to his plea agreement, in September 1996, George Udeozor traveled to Nigeria and, using the passport of his oldest daughter, smuggled a 14 year old Nigerian girl to his home in Maryland. He and his then-wife, Dr. Adaobi Stella Udeozor, used the girl as an unpaid domestic servant and child care provider for their six children for approximately five years, from October 1996 to Oct. 28, 2001. The victim cooked, cleaned the home, did laundry and took care of the Udeozor children. During that time, the victim was physically abused. The Udeozors did not send the victim to school and did not pay the victim or her family for her work. At times, the victim also worked in Adaobi Stella Udeozor’s medical offices, for which she did not receive compensation. The Udeozors compelled the victim’s labor by inflicting verbal and physical abuse on her, including when she purportedly did not do her work correctly. They threatened the victim with arrest and deportation if she left the home. Additionally, from sometime after the fall of 1997 when the victim was just 15 years old, until the time George Udeozor left the United States in late 1999 to return to Nigeria, George Udeozor had sexual relations with the victim in the Udeozor home. He warned the victim not to tell anyone about those episodes.
CSEC2008
United States US
local vice officers working in Harrison Twp. got tips that a woman had started using her minor daughter in prostitution at local hotels. Undercover officers went to a hotel on North Dixie Drive at East Siebenthaler Avenue at around 8 p.m. Monday, April 21, and contacted a man later identified as Melvin. "The male there acted as an organizer," Plummer (Montgomery County Sheriff's Dept.) said. "He told them which room the girl was in, what services she was good at and how much she charged. He accepted money, and pointed them to the room." The officers arrested Melvin and White. Officers found a small amount of marijuana in their possession, Plummer said.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
Leonard Russell recruited two girls from Nebraska to engage in commercial sexual activity, including prostitution, and to perform at strip clubs. The two victims, ages 15 and 16, were runaways and were harbored by Russell. The victims testified that they met Russell in Omaha, Nebraska on August 20, 2007 after they ran away from a juvenile home located in Fremont, Nebraska. They were recruited to help at 19-year old prostitute, named Marcia Ryan. The victims were then transported to Davenport, Iowa, then Rockford, Illinois, and finally back to Denison, Iowa. They were forced to engage in prostitution and perform at strip clubs, one of which was Big Earl’s Key Club in Denison, Iowa. They were forced to give their earnings to Russell and Ryan to pay for their food, shelter, transportation, and clothes. One victim was with Russell for eight days, and the other for 10 days. Investigations showed that they had been advertised on the internet as prostitutes.
Sex Trafficking2008
United States US
“Prosecutors said [the trafficker] who has used addresses in Sioux City and Omaha, Neb., recruited and harbored two Nebraska girls [in 2007] for commercial sexual activity, including prostitution and performing at strip clubs. They said the girls, ages 15 and 16, were runaways.” (Fox News) “[The trafficker] took the girls to Davenport and Rockford, IL, and back to Denison, IA, over several days, and had them engage in prostitution and perform at strip clubs, including Big Earl’s Key Club in Denison.” (Iowa Attorney General) “An anonymous tip led police to rescue one of the girls at Big Earl's [a strip club in Denison]. The other was put on a bus to Washington, D.C., to meet with Russell's cousin and learn to solicit sex. Police in Washington rescued her there.” “The girls testified that they engaged in prostitution and performed at strip clubs including Big Earl's Key Club in Denison. They said they had to give the money they earned to Russell and Ryan in exchange for food, shelter, transportation and clothing. The teens testified they were ashamed with what they were doing, but they felt they had nowhere else to go. One of the teens was with Russell for eight days, the other for 10 days, officials said. “[The suspect] was found guilty of two counts of human trafficking, two counts of pandering and a count of ongoing criminal conduct during a September trial in Crawford County. [He] was sentenced [December 22, 2008] in Crawford County District Court to 25 years on the ongoing criminal conduct charge, and 10 years on each of the other four charges — with all the sentences to be served concurrently. He was also fined $5,000.” (Fox News)
CSEC2008
United States US
After a two-year-investigation, Denver police said they have busted a major prostitution ring that employed 50 female prostitutes, including children. Investigators found more than $30,000 cash, and the sex trafficking ring was raking in more than $1,000,000 a year since 2005. Police said the ring operated not from Tang's home but from an undisclosed location in Denver. Neighbors noticed that "something" wasn't right with the hours she was keeping. Tang is being held on nine felony counts of pimping, procurement, pandering of a child and keeping a place of prostitution. Police believe she recruited underage girls from other states. Todd Allen Powellis being held in the Denver city jail for investigation of pimping, conspiracy and other prostitution-related offenses.
CSEC2008
United States US
Two Seattle men, Joseph Olive (22) and Turomne Washington (19) coerced two 17-year-old Bellingham girls to work as prostitutes in Des Moines. Police said Olive gave one girl a pair of high-heel shoes and ordered her to make him some money. Washington is accused of telling the other girl to do the same. After earning $50 by having sex with strangers twice, one girl called the mother of the other girl, police said. Court papers say the other girl had sex with about 14 people and turned over all her earnings to Olive and Washington.
CSEC2008
United States US
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim
Sex Trafficking2008
Ireland IE
T.J. Carroll, age 49, Irish citizen living in Wales. Shamiela Clark, age 32, wife of T.J. Carroll, originally from South Africa and a former prostitute. Toma Carroll, 25, Irish citizen, daughter of T.J. Carroll from previous marriage and former law student. Women and girls from many countries were brought into Ireland for purposes of sex work. Some brought in from Nigeria had been forced to participate in a voodoo ritual with a witch doctor that would supposedly curse those who tried to leave or who tried to tell the authorities of the work they were doing. Many of the women were beaten if they fell short of complying with the brothel's rules, and in some cases, their family members were actually beaten and then forced to phone the women, describing to them what had happened. Many of the women had been told they were going to Ireland for educational opportunities, but were instead forced to work 15-hour shifts in the brothels to pay back a debt that in some cases reached 60,000 euros.
Bonded Labor2008
United States US
The trafficker, Maria Terechina, is a 47 year old U.S. citizen who immigrated from the Russian federation. She was described by her lawyers as a “Russian grandmother.” The trafficker worked with co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty to charges of harboring immigrants illegally. The trafficker helped trick hundreds of Eastern European (from Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries) women into taking jobs working for hotels in Ohio. She would take the passports and other immigration documents of the women and control their movements. The trafficker would tell the women that they owed debts between $600-$1000 which were taken from their wages and added to the debts by requiring the women to pay for transportation and housing expenses.
Forced Labor2008
United States US
From Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 28, 2008: One of the most recent cases in Chattanooga occurred July 11, when two people were victims of an apparent “coyote” ransom scam, according to Chattanooga police and U.S. Immigration and Custom officials. The victims told police they paid a man to transport them from Valdosta, Ga., to Oklahoma City to search for work. Once they arrived in Oklahoma, they were kidnapped and told their families would have to pay $15,000 for their freedom. They escaped from the kidnapper’s car in Chattanooga, they told police. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jul/28/chattanooga-smuggling-related-crimes-increase-spre/ http://www.wdef.com/news/human_trafficking_with_ties_to_chattanooga/07/2008