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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
On May 27, 2011, Maurice Lerome Smith was convicted after a three-day jury trial. A federal jury returned verdicts convicting Smith on one count of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, and coercion, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to evidence presented at trial, Smith set up online ads offering commercial sex acts with his child victim. Smith would book the rooms and drive the child to the motels; he then took possession of all the money. The child was told to make a daily quota as high as $1,000. The child testified she met Smith online in 2009. She testified that in September 2010, while walking in San Diego, Smith forced her to get into his car and later physically assaulted her with a belt, had sex with her, and then drove her to a motel to work as a prostitute. Smith told the girl if she did not get into his car, she would be “in pieces in the trunk”.
Response and intervention
The case was investigated by the San Diego Police Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Smith was convicted. Means of intervention was not reported, nor were dates of bondage, which are approximate. No aftercare was reported. Lerome Smith, 41,of Oceanside was sentenced in federal court on December 19, 2011 to 30 years in prison