Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
The FBI led an investigation and used the Patriot Act to obtain confidential information, which resulted in the rescue of the victim. The trafficker was identified after bragging in an Internet chat room under the name of “master for teen slave girls” and sending photographs of the victim whom he identified as his “sex slave.” The victim was found restrained to a bed post with a dog collar and a chain at the offender’s house.
CSEC2002
United States US
Maritzana Diaz Lopez, Pedro Burgos, Angel Ruiz, Librada Jimenez-Calderon, Antonia Jimenez-Calderon, and Sergio Farfan all played a part in recruiting young girls (ages 14-18) from Mexico to come to the U.S. under false promises, and then forcing them to work in the sex industry. The victims were held in a brothel in Plainfield, New Jersey, where they then worked seven days a week performing sex acts. They performed six to eight sex acts a day, for approximately $35 each. The victims were subject to physical violence, as well as verbal threats.
Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Greg Contos said it appears the men, who knew the teens in Sacramento, somehow enticed or forced the girls to go with them to Alameda County and then Sonoma County to act as prostitutes. The teens were apparently at a different hotel in Alameda County on Monday. At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, the 18-year-old dialed 911 and gave dispatchers a description of her alleged kidnappers and their car.
Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
For many years, 5 Seattle men, 1 man from Portland, and a man and a woman from LA lured young women from Asia with the promise of a better life in the US, only to make them sex slaves in 3 brothels in Seattle and 1 in Portland. The women were brought from all over Asia - China, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand - and had no idea they would be forced into prostitution. The 5 men from Seattle are: Jonny Cong Wu Phui Dang Shek Yu Ng De Qin Zhang He Qingping The woman from LA, Yuen Lam, is accused of supplying women to brothels nationwide, as well as the three discovered in Seattle and one in Portland. The prostitution ring would move the women between cities about every other week; the women were never allowed to leave the brothel, except when changing locations. The brothel at this location (Vantage Park Apartments) was run by Wu, and security camera tapes that show about 20 customers per day; the going rate was about $120 per visit at all three brothels. Ng ran another brothel on 31st Ave South, near SeaTac Airport. Zhang and Qingping ran another brothel in the Jeffrey Apartments, 167 11th Ave - about a block from the Vantage Park apartments.
Forced Marriage2002
United States
Russian woman recruited online married American man moved to Minnesota. Husband became controlling forbade work phone use and leaving. Physically and sexually abused Accused: American husband (identity concealed).
Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
David Lee Miller Jr., former Sunnyvale police officer; Sue Yun Song and Roger K. Li, owners and operators of the Crystal Palace; Sang Ye Han and Robert Kwong Wong, owners of Ok Yeo Bong From an Asian Week article: http://asianweek.com/2002_08_09/bay_sextrafficking.html "In this particular raid, FBI officials say that the owners of Crystal Palace Nightclub and Ok Yeo Bong bar in Sunnyvale, Calif., were involved in a sex trafficking ring where immigrant women were forced to have “dates” and sex with customers in exchange for rent, utilities and cost incurred to transport them into the U.S." From an article in the SJ Mercury News: http://wc1.worldcrossing.com/WebX/.ef3dd6b "The bars -- Crystal Palace Nightclub and Ok Yeo Bong -- recruited women from Korea for at least two years, authorities say, paying traveling expenses and getting visas, but then forced the women to repay their debts through prostitution. Patrolman David Lee Miller Jr., who has spent 15 years on the force, allegedly helped the bar owners build their enterprises by warning them of police inspections. Federal court documents say the 38-year-old Morgan Hill resident also helped track down women who skipped out on the clubs without paying back the expenses of bringing them into the country."
Forced Labor2002
United States US
John Pickle Company (owned by John Pickle Jr,), an Oklahoma-based oil industry parts manufacturer, recruited 52 Indian workers to work in the Tulsa factory, but were imprisoned, exploited, and abused. The skilled workers (high-tech welders, fitters, electricians, engineers, and cooks) were recruited through a travel agency located in Mumbai called AL Samit International, to which they paid a very expensive recruitment fee. The owner of the company John Pickle Jr. even flew to India to meet with and interview the workers. The foreign workers were promised that they would work under similar conditions as Americans, that they would receive free room and board, medical expenses and insurance paid, and that if their performance was satisfactory they would be hired permanently, they would obtain their green cards and they would be able to bring their families over from India. They traveled to the United States under the B1/B2 visa for “training,” with open dates. Upon arrival the men’s identification and immigration documents were confiscated by Mrs. Pickle. The workers lived in factory dormitories and were subjected to fraud and deceit, inadequate pay, sub-standard living conditions, false imprisonment, lockdowns with armed guard, phone tapping, food rationing, restrictions on freedom to worship, degrading job assignments, ethnic slurs, intimidation, and non-payment of wages earned. The victims were paid between $1.00 and $3.17 per hour while the other workers were paid $14.00 for the same work. The forced labor included janitorial work, replacing septic tanks, performing kitchen duties, and yard work for JPC officers. The company was charged due to the violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and 42 U.S.C. Section 81, because the treatment was based on national origin of the foreign workers. In 2006 the company was accused by federal attorneys of hiding assets in avoidance of paying the $1.3 million verdict to the victims.
Sex Trafficking2002
United States US
Carlos Curtis and an accomplice convinced a 12-year old runaway to become a prostitute by offering her food, clothing, and shelter. Curtis also had another victim, a 17-year old runaway from Maryland. Curtis traveled with the two from Brooklyn, NY to Washington DC, where he sold the children from sex. Curtis also had another victim, a 26-year old woman from Queens, NY.
Domestic Servitude2002
Australia AU
There was conviction of: Possessing a Slave Exercising ownership over a Slave Arranging a Marriage for Visa Purposes Rape and Sexual Assault (see www.law.uq.edu.au/humantrafficking)
Sex Trafficking2001
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and International Needs Ghana negotiated with the Gborble shrine and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 31, 2003. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 42 year old woman was liberated who had been enslaved for 32 years, since she was ten years old. She did not know the reason at the time, but her mother later told her that her grandfather was burning some rubbish, the wind shifted, and the neighbor’s thatch roof hut caught on fire. The neighbor went to the shrine and invoked the intervention of the Dzoli god, which is reported to have caused several deaths in the family. The family believed that the only way to stop the deaths was to atone for the accident by sending a young virgin girl to become a slave of the Dzoli god. The victim reports that there were eight other young slave girls in the shrine. She was made to work the priest’s farm with a short-handled hoe, gather firewood, carry water from the river, and carry big pots on her head. Two children were born to her as a result of being raped regularly by the priest. Her story came out in the liberation process.
CSEC2001
United States US
Walker and the victim, a 16-year-old girl, had been dating for a year in Oklahoma. After a year, they convinced the victim’s mother to let them leave Oklahoma. They came to Albuquerque at the end of September, 2001. Once there, the victim reports that Walker beat her and forced her to work as a prostitute and turn her earnings over to him. Walker and his girlfriend came to Albuquerque at the end of September, where they lived in a motel room. According to the criminal complaint, Walker told police that the 16-year-old used to "work for him but she did not make a lot of money so he let her go." Walker "admitted to being a 'pimp,' '' according to the complaint, though he told police that the other two teens didn't work for him. The 16-year-old was arrested for prostitution, and told police that Walker was forcing her to work as a prostitute. Shortly before the 16-year-old’s arrest, Walker returned from a trip to Phoenix with a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old.
Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
The convictions are the result of a coordinated effort of the Trafficking In Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force, an interagency effort that brings together different agencies to combat the problem of trafficking in persons and modern-day slavery in the United States. The case, which was investigated jointly by the INS, FBI, and the Anchorage Police Department, was prosecuted by the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska (DOJ). If yes, in what way and with what result? U.S. vs. Virchenko was the first case to be decided under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Additionally, the Department of Justice expanded the definition of commercial sexual service of a minor to include not only “a commercial sexual activity,” but also a “sexually explicit performance” (Mattar).
Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
Federal agents arrested the dance instructor Monday as he tried to fly back to Russia with three of the women. Agents arrested Kennard, of Chugiak, on Tuesday for his part in the alleged fraud, including a felony count of aiding and abetting preparation of false visa applications. Both were jailed.
Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
On November 24, 1999, Reddy and a group of his employees were spotted carrying the unconscious body of a 17-year-old girl into a van, and trying to force an 18-year-old girl in as well. Marcia Poole, a passing motorist, stopped the kidnapping and alerted the police who came to the scene, but Reddy managed to resolve the situation, by claiming that the unconscious girl was the daughter of one of his employees. The 17-year-old and her 15-year-old sister, who had been lying in a nearby stairwell, had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in a Reddy-owned apartment and were taken to nearby Alta Bates hospital, where the 17-year-old was pronounced dead. The police accepted Reddy's explanation of an accidental death, but the Berkeley High Jacket, the student newspaper of nearby Berkeley High School, found it odd that the girls had not been attending school. Reporters Megan Greenwell and Iliana Montauk dug into the case and broke the story, exposing a web of criminal activity. Reddy had been exploiting the H-1B visa system for years to traffick poor Indian workers into the country as forced laborers. He brought in over 20 immigrants on the H-1B program, claiming that they were computer programmers. In many cases, he had the workers petition to bring in other trafficked workers into the US, claiming that they were family, and backing up the claims with falsified documents. The trafficked workers were generally made to work in Reddy's restaurants and apartment buildings. The two girls, supposed "daughters" of one of Reddy's "programmers," were not only forced to clean Reddy's buildings, but were also his underaged sex slaves. Reddy was sentenced to eight years in prison, required to repay US$2 million dollars, and will be a registered sex offender upon his release. Two of his sons received lesser sentences for conspiracy to defraud the INS as part of plea agreements. Reddy was released April 2, 2008.[1] The Reddy family currently operates numerous apartment complexes in the Berkeley area under the names Reddy Realty and Everest Properties, as well as the Pasand restaurants in Berkeley and Santa Clara.
Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
Nantawat Naovasairi was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for recruiting and transporting Thai females to the US and attempting to murder and FBI agent. Naree Hanlert was sentenced to 12 months in prison and three years supervised release for conspiracy to smuggle undocumented foreign nationals to the country. Ratiporn Tantirojankikan was sentenced to 17 months in prison and two year supervised release. Two other suspects remain fugitives.
Child Labor2001
Equatorial Guinea GQ
The children were rescued from the sinking ship. More information: http://books.google.com/books?id=e-QksyKt_fMC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=child+traffickers+Ghana&source=bl&ots=NQc5qnIuYs&sig=glWxXK7Tgpc-ESxVKW3oXGF0_-Y&hl=en&ei=UWykSs_pFIm4M_GAgeAP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=child%20traffickers%20Ghana&f=false
Child Labor2001
Benin BJ
A Nigerian ship called Etinero was contravened off on its way back to Cotonou after having been turned away at Libreville, Gabon and Douala, Cameroun. The ship was carrying slave children. Early reports showed that children were traveling with parents, but continued investigations by UNICEF showed that the alleged parents were in reality child traffickers. The older children believed they were going to work in legitimate jobs, the younger ones did not know where they were going, and all wanted to go home to their mothers. More information: http://books.google.com/books?id=e-QksyKt_fMC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=child+traffickers+Ghana&source=bl&ots=NQc5qnIuYs&sig=glWxXK7Tgpc-ESxVKW3oXGF0_-Y&hl=en&ei=UWykSs_pFIm4M_GAgeAP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=child%20traffickers%20Ghana&f=false
Sex Trafficking2001
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and International Needs Ghana negotiated with the Gborble shrine and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 31, 2003. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 70 year old woman was sent into shrine slavery when she was too young to remember her age, and spent most of her life in servitude. She was later told that her grandfather had got into a quarrel with someone over a palm plantation, and the other party had cursed their family at the shrine. When family members died, it was believed that they needed to present a young virgin girl to atone for the grandfather’s crime by living a life of slavery. The victim was not the only very young girl at the shrine. Three others of her age range were there at the same time. Her duties included sweeping the compound, gathering firewood from the forest, selling firewood at the market, and working the priest’s farm with a short-handled hoe. The priest received all the money and all the crop. The victim was plagued by hunger, so she sometimes picked unripe mangoes and hid them under leaves in the forest until they ripened. She was very angry at her family for sending her into servitude. After many years of enslavement in the shrine she was given partial release, but this arrangement did not end her slavery. The shrine still controlled who she married and where she lived and travelled, and she was fined for the least mistake and required to attend the annual festival every year and to bring sacrifices so expensive that getting them together still dominated her life all year long. This victim was one of 264 who were liberated that day along with their children (a joint liberation involving three shrines of which Dzoli was one).
Sex Trafficking2001
Ghana GH
Gborble traditional shrine priestess and shrine owners enslaved young virgin girls in a practice commonly called trokosi. The government of Ghana calls it ritual or customary servitude. The practice involves both sexual abuse and manual labor and the movement of the girls was strictly controlled by the shrine. The Gborble shrine priest and owners liberated their trokosi slaves on January 31, 2009 and signed a public agreement that the practice of slavery was ended in that place and that they would take in no more slaves. The shrine is located in a group of mud and thatch houses, where the girls were kept in crowded quarters with nothing but a floor to lie on. In this case a 25 year old woman was liberated who had been enslaved by the Gborble shrine since she was six years old—a total of 19 years. She later learned she was there because her grandfather had quarreled over a piece of land and the other party cursed the family at the shrine. When family members later died, it was blamed on this curse. The only way to lift the curse, it was thought, was to give a virgin girl of the family to serve as a shrine slave. At the shrine, she had to keep a big clay waterpot full by carrying water from the river. If it was ever found not full, she would receive no food that day. The victim was very lonely since her family never visited her. She had to work even when she was sick, and felt that no one cared about her. She says it is such a joy to be able to make her own choices now that she has come out of such a cruel system.
Sex Trafficking2001
Ghana GH
Gborble traditional shrine priestess and shrine owners enslaved young virgin girls in a practice commonly called trokosi. The government of Ghana calls it ritual or customary servitude. The practice involves both sexual abuse and manual labor and the movement of the girls was strictly controlled by the shrine. The Gborble shrine priest and owners liberated their trokosi slaves on January 31, 2009 and signed a public agreement that the practice of slavery was ended in that place and that they would take in no more slaves. The shrine is located in a group of mud and thatch houses, where the girls were kept in crowded quarters with nothing but a floor to lie on. In this case a 26 year old woman was freed who had been taken into slavery when she was only three years old, left in the care of the older slaves at the shrine. When the victim’ss father and other members of the family died, they inquired at the shrine as to the cause. The priestess informed them that the grandfather had sex with another trokosi slave, and that to make atonement for that misdeed, a young virgin girl would be required from the family to become a shrine slave. She was held at the shrine for five years before she was even permitted to visit home. Her duties included sweeping the compound, gathering heavy firewood from the forest, and ploughing the fields for the priest’s farm with a short-handled hoe. As a trokosi slave, she was forced to go barefoot and was denied education. She often cried when she was other girls wearing normal clothing and going to school.
Sex Trafficking2001
Ghana GH
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. Two NGO's, Every Child Ministries Ghana and International Needs Ghana negotiated with the Gborble shrine and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all its trokosi slaves on January 31, 2003. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 50 year old woman was freed who had been slaved for 43 years, since was was seven years old. She was later told her captivity was because her father had sex with another shrine slave. The victim remembers that during her initiation she was dipped into cold water containing smelly herbs, her head was shaved, she was given a rope that she had to wear around her neck to show she belonged to the shrine, and she had to go through a ritual dance. After many years of enslavement in the shrine she was given partial release, but this arrangement did not end her slavery. The shrine still controlled who she married and where she lived and travelled, and she was fined for the least mistake and required to attend the annual festival every year and to bring sacrifices so expensive that getting them together still dominated her life all year long.
CSEC2001
United States US
Angelique Danisse Epps and Antione D. Ford met two runaway sisters (14 and 15 years old) in Omaha, Nebraska and transported them to Grand Rapids, MI. Epps had a record of prostitution offenses, and planned to teach the girls how to be child prostitutes according to the GR Press. Ford is a gang member, and both Epps and Ford may have been attached to a murder as well immediately before they left Omaha.
CSEC2001
Guinea GN
Thirteen children aged 13-19 were discovered,and 18 people connected with the rackert were arrested. Both the girls trafficked and the trafficking agents were Nigerians. The girls were lured by promises of recruiters of over $1700 cash. They were then taken to Guinea,where they were being provided with false passports and sent to Mali, and from there sold to brothels in Morocco, Algeria, Spain and Italy. The girls would then be required to pay the brothel owner $400 for their freedom.
Sex Trafficking2001
United States US
Jermaine Carlos Diaz, 23, trafficked young girls from his hometown of Fort Smith,AR to Houston, TX for the purpose of prostitution.