Child Labor2024
Kansas City, Missouri, United States, 2024
United States
Forced child labor case resulting in landmark life sentence. Minors compelled to work under threat of serious harm Accused: Individual perpetrator.
1 source
The data
Documented cases
Every case on SlaveryMap, drawn from public sources and shown with its location deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
1,631documented cases
112countries
1981–2025years covered
631 of 1,631 cite a source · Updated
Child Labor
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Showing 1–20 of 20
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
Child Labor2011
Detroit, Michigan, United States, 2011
United States US
Keith Goodwin was arrested for producing child pornography, and during the search of his residence three victims of child prostitution were rescued. Goodwin was sentenced to over 9 years in prison.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2011
Stratford, England, United States, 2011
United States US
Harrison, 32, who worked for Newham council under the name Charles Pepple, was today convicted by Woolwich crown court of conspiracy to traffick people for sexual exploitation, conspiracy to breach immigration law and false imprisonment. He received 20 years incarceration. The case is the first where children were illegally brought to the UK to be shipped off to work in the sex industries of Spain and Greece. After "grooming", the girls were sent to Britain on false documents and into the hands of Harrison. Harrison imprisoned both girls - aged 14 and 16 - at his home in Stratford, in 2009, before attempting to traffic them to Spain and Greece as prostitutes. The two had been controlled by Juju magic rituals. One of the girls was gagged and bound in Harrison's bathroom. The case is thought to be the first of its kind in Europe to involve a prosecution linked to such a practice. Both girls came from small villages in Edo, Nigeria, and were sold into prostitution with the help of the local Juju priest. Juju is a significant part of West African culture. Police said Harrison was a key player in a sophisticated network of West African people traffickers operating in the UK. After Harrison was convicted, the prosecution told the court: "This has been something of a unique case and ground-breaking. It's the first time there has been a prosecution for trafficking out of the UK.
4 sourcesArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2010
Bartlett, Tennessee, United States, 2010
United States US
Yes. Police were called on May 11th 2010. A report was filed. Pictures were taken. MPD does not want to support it's victims.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2010
Citrus Heights, California, United States, 2010
United States US
STEPHEN MCKESSON, 24, of Citrus Heights, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to 235 months in prison and restitution of $20,000 for sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion. MCKESSON pleaded guilty on May 19, 2009. MCKESSON pleaded guilty to transporting the victim, a 16-year-old Sacramento female, from Sacramento to Redwood City for the purpose of prostitution. The defendant had met this victim when she was 13 and he was approximately 16 years of age. When she was no older than 14, the defendant convinced the victim to work as a prostitute by telling her that if she loved him, she would prostitute for him. The victim worked as a prostitute for the defendant off and on for parts of the next five years, giving him all of the money that she earned through prostitution. The victim would travel to other cities in California and go door-to-door in certain apartment buildings while working for MCKESSON. On many occasions, the victim had run away from home, and each time that she was contacted by law enforcement and taken into custody, MCKESSON would convince her to leave her foster home to return to prostitution. MCKESSON used force to manipulate the victim into working for him as a prostitute. The violence began with relatively minor physical contact. Over time, his level of violence toward his victim increased, progressing to kicking and beating her in the head. The victim continued to work for him until 2008 at which time the violence had progressed to forcible sodomy and rape. The victim stated that she continued to work for him because he threatened to take her two children.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2010
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 2010
United States US
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jane W. Duke, and Thomas J. Browne, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that Everett Cooney was sentenced by United States Chief Judge J. Leon Holmes to 90 months' imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release on a federal charge of sex trafficking an underage female. . Cooney’s co-defendant, Tommy Handy, plead guilty to a charge of sex trafficking on October 23, 2009. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the pending indictment was dismissed. Handy’s plea exposes him to a minimum of 10 years' and up to life imprisonment. He is awaiting sentencing by the court. Handy remains in custody pending his sentencing.
1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2010
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 2010
United States US
Porter and Young ran the place and hired the strippers according to police. Neighbors were surprised by the arrests and describe the Patterson Square center as ‘industrial' and mostly commercial businesses. Undra Gaines works across the street from the club and said when he heard about it he thought it was, "Pitiful, disgusting, the reason why I say that is because minors were involved." Many in the neighborhood knew about the parties thrown there, but say they never thought underage girls participated in the parties. "I've been invited to the place several times, but never did go," said Devin Coleman who works across the street from the ‘Party Room'. He said he thought they were, "‘Grown up' parties, you know what I'm saying ‘grown up parties', I'm being honest with you, that's what everyone thought." The door at 5608 Patterson Road reads, ‘Every Event Help Kids'. The establishment that is right beside the club shows a sign of Porter as the face of a group called "Survivors of Murdered Children". "It's a very difficult situation and in this case it's probably not over yet, we're still investigating, probably more charges are coming," said Little Rock Police Department Spokesperson, Lt. Terry Hastings. Many who worked just doors down from the illegal club said they had no idea a joint like this was in their area. Rick Howell works at an alarm company in the complex and said, "It goes to show you never know what's going on with your neighbors." The owners, Porter and Young face a slew of charges including endangering the welfare of a minor and promoting a child in a sexual performance.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2010
New Jersey, United States, 2010
United States US
Afolabi was arrested in 2007 after a victim told her story to ICE agents. The news article detailing the story is below: http://www.usafricaonline.com/afolabi-trafficking-girls-togo-ghana/ Ms Afolabi convicted in New Jersey for trafficking girls from Togo, Ghana Posted by admin on Oct 24th, 2009 and filed under INSIGHTS, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry New Jersey-based woman convicted for trafficking girls from Togo, Ghana; her lawyer says jury misunderstood culture while prosecutor says it’s violent abuse of teens…. Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston, USAfricaonline.com and CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal After deliberating less than five hours, a federal jury has convicted a West African woman of running a human-trafficking operation that smuggled girls from Togo and Ghana and forced them to work without pay at hair-braiding salons in New Jersey. Akouavi Kpade Afolabi silently wept and bowed her head as the jury foreman announced she was guilty of all 22 counts, including conspiracy to commit forced labor, smuggle illegal aliens and visa fraud. The once-prosperous jewelry and textile merchant recruited more than 20 girls and young women from impoverished African villages with the promise of a better life in America, authorities said. But once the women arrived, Afolabi forced them to braid hair for up to 14 hours a day at salons in Newark and East Orange in a case investigators equated to modern-day slavery. “The evidence presented at trial revealed that these young women — some as young as 10-years old — endured unconscionable indignities,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. “The defendant ruled over her victims with threats, violence, even voodoo curses.” The trial underscored the pervasive problem of human trafficking in New Jersey, where crowded highways, ports and large immigrant communities make it easy to ship and conceal victims, authorities said. During four weeks of testimony, several victims told jurors how Afolabi confiscated their passports, beat them and used a voodoo ritual to frighten them into believing they would go insane if they escaped. They were barred from attending school, learning English, making friends or dating. Several were sexually assaulted by Afolabi’s ex-husband and her son, who have both pleaded guilty. “Why didn’t you run away?” Shana W. Chen, an assistant U.S. attorney, asked one of the victims. “I didn’t know anyone to run to,” said the witness, Sroda Xedagbui, now 18. Afolabi’s lawyer, Olubukola O. Adetula, argued the charges stemmed from prosecutors’ ignorance of West African culture. In essence, he said, Afolabi ran an apprenticeship program, plucking the girls from poverty and teaching them a trade so they could find prosperity in America. She treated the girls, who ranged in age from 10 to 19, as if they were her daughters and imposed the same strict rules found in most Togolese homes, he said. “I don’t think the jury quite got it,” Adetula said. “A lot of what took place was cultural … But I respect the jury’s decision.” Afolabi faces up to 20 years in prison for several of the charges, but prosecutors could argue for more time. U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares scheduled her sentencing for Jan. 21. Her lawyer said he planned to appeal. Afolabi grew up poor in Togo but found success amid the teeming markets of Lomé, the nation’s capitol. She built two compound-like homes in the coastal city’s sprawling neighborhoods, where she ran a virtual “visa-fraud school,” coaching girls to trick embassy officials into believing they were spouses or children of people who won visas through a lottery program, said Nancy Hoppock, deputy criminal chief for the U.S. attorney’s office. Afolabi sat silently through most of the trial, listening to translators repeat testimony in her native language, Ewe. She raised her voice only once, screaming at her ex-husband, Lassissi Afolabi, when he admitted on the witness stand to forcing two of the women to have sex with him. Afolabi began smuggling girls into New Jersey as early as 2002, authorities said. She has been in custody since being arrested in 2007, when a victim told her story to agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. “ICE aggressively targets criminals who exploit or victimize vulnerable individuals who are looking for a better life in the United States,” said Peter T. Edge, head of ICE’s office of investigations in Newark. During brief interviews today, jurors said the quick verdict stemmed from the victims’ convincing testimony. Adetula’s cultural argument simply didn’t stack up, they said. “There is no real cultural misunderstanding about forcing someone to work and not paying them,” said one juror, who declined to give his name. ref: New Jersey Real-Time News ——
1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Durham, North Carolina, United States, 2009
United States US
Frank Lombard, associate director of the Center for Health Policy, was arrested Wednesday in Raleigh, the FBI said. informant described in graphic detail how he allegedly observed Lombard molesting an African-American child on four occasions over an Internet video chat service called ICUii. the child was one of two adopted African-Americans in his custody. Lombard has been charged with attempting to induce someone to cross state lines to engage in sex with a child, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Lombard allegedly used the adult Internet service to conduct his video chats. According to an affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, the Internet service indicated that Lombard's profile "stated he was interested in "perv fam fun," a reference to "incestuous child molestation." "FL" told undercover investigators that he had himself molested his child, whom he adopted as an infant, and that he had allowed others to molest his child. "FL" stated that "the abuse of the child was easier when the child was too young to talk or know what was happening, but that he had drugged the child with Benadryl during the molestation," Palchak wrote in his affidavit. Two children were taken from Lombard's home and put into protective custody by the North Carolina Department of Social Services, an FBI statement said. Michael Schoenfeld, a Duke University spokesman, told ABC News that Lombard has been placed on unpaid leave and that the university is cooperating fully with the investigation. Lombard has been employed by Duke since 1999, Schoenfeld said. Appearing today in federal court in Durham, Lombard agreed to be transferred to Washington for a later court hearing. His lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The Associated Press contributed to this story. via, ABC news.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
East Orange, New Jersey, United States, 2009
United States US
Akouavi Kpade Afolabi , a Togolese woman residing legally in the United States was found guilty on October 14 on 22 counts of human trafficking and obtaining US visas by fraud. The husband, Lassissi Afolabi, the son, Dereck Hounakey, and a fourth person, Geoffry Kouevi, have also been charged. To be sentenced in January. The jury that heard the case of Akouavi Kpade Afolabi returned the unanimous verdict of guilty quickly. Afolabi admitted trafficking girls aged 10 to 19 from Ghana and Togo between 2002 and 2007. She was a prominent textile merchant in Lomé, where she gained control of the girls. Afolabi promised to help them escape from poverty by learning a new profession in America. Instead, she forced them into slavery and abused them both physically and psychologically. The girls were forced to work 14 hours a day, 6 days a week braiding hair in salons in New Jersey. Afolabi stole all their wages and even confiscated the smallest tips given by clients. The girls were told that they’d be sent back to Africa if they objected to working without pay. Afolabi and her husband Lassissi Afolabi kept the girls under tight control, confiscating their passports and other personal documents and refusing to allow them to call home or friends. The girls were frequently beaten, especially by the husband, who was also charged. They were beaten if they did not return directly to their apartment after work, if they asked for their salary or any money, or if they disobeyed his orders. One had her head beaten against a table. In addition to these nightmares, both the husband and the son, Dereck Hounakey, have admitted to raping some of the girls. Afolabi hung her head and wept in the courtroom as the husband described his sexual encounters with the girls. The trafficker must have feared the girls would naturally refuse when they learned the real circumstances of their engagement, for she forced them to undergo voodoo or fetish rituals. As is frequently done to the trokosi in Ghana, she tried to frighten them into believing that they would go mad if they did not remain loyal and obedient to her. Afolabi prayed daily and sometimes sacrificed chickens at a voodoo or fetish shrine inside her home. Afolabi brought the girls into the U.S. fraudulently. Authorities say Afolabi smuggled the girls to America by helping them pose as spouses or relatives of people who secured visas through a lottery program. One of the enslaved girls failed several times to trick American embassy officials in Togo. She approached real lottery winners and offered to pay their plane fare if they would smuggle one of her workers into the US by having her pose as his stepdaughter. She even went so far as to arrange a fake wedding for one of the girls to ensure her enslavement. Afolabi’s lawyer tried to defend her on the basis that what she did was consistent with West African cultural practices and that she had saved the girls from poverty because they were provided with clothes. The American jury did not accept the argument, clearly seeing it as a classic case of child trafficking and modern-day slavery. The prosecution is asking for a life sentence in prison. http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/national/article_a2d7e2dd-169b-5937-9b8f-d5fe3511a06a.html http://blog.nj.com/ledgerarchives/2008/05/officials_call_it_slavery_but.html http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_us/us_hair_braiders_forced_labor_5 http://english.pravda.ru/news/society/07-09-2007/96879-tololese_slaves-0 http://www.southfloridacriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2009/03/federal_human_trafficker_plead.html#more http://www.nj.com/mobile/articles/paper1.ssf?/base/news-14/1253151910265840.xml&coll=1
6 sourcesArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, 2009
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.
1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Lenexa, Kansas, United States, 2009
United States US
Richard J. Oflyng, 32, of Ottawa, Kan He admitted driving to an area residence, where he expected to meet a pimp offering him an 11-year-old girl for sex.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Phoenix, United States, 2009
United States US
Daniel Cortez and Jonquell Jones . Cortez, 19, and Jones, 22, are suspected of preying on six juveniles and one adult, mostly girls between 15 and 17, primarily in west Phoenix since 2006. They were the latest of a handful of men, including two school employees, arrested this month in separate cases on suspicion of targeting juveniles for sex.
1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Sanford, North Carolina, United States, 2009
United States US
Antoinette Davis,25, offered her 5 year-old daughter, Shaniya, for sex. Shaniya was staying with her father, who had custody; however, he decided to let Shaniya stay with her mother for a month, because she had become financially stable. Davis is now being charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2009
Shangambo District, United States, 2009
United States US
Raymond Matiti, 61 and Matiti and his co-accused Likando face a possible jail term of 20 years if found guilty of human trafficking. According to the Zambian laws, “human trafficking is an act of recruitment, transporting, harbouring or receipt of persons for the purposes of slavery, forced labour (including bonded labour or debt bondage) and servitude”.
1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2008
Highland Park, California, United States, 2008
United States US
Eduardo Marquez, Teodoro Estrada, and Aquilina Alvarez have been indicted for smuggling undocumented alians to different parts of the US from Mexico. Been known to smuggle children and infants.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2008
Rio Grande City, United States, 2008
United States US
Clerks at a Rio Grande City convenience store helped nab a suspected human trafficker. They called police after spotting a woman and 2-year-old who didn't seem to belong together. The woman claimed she was given the child and a birth certificate in Roma. (The Romani are also known as Gypsies.)
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2004
Brentwood, New York, United States, 2004
United States US
Mariluz Zavala and her husband Jose Ibanez recruited and smuggled over sixty Peruvian nationals (including children) to the US. The couple charged a smuggling fee that ranged from $6,000 to $13,000, and found the victims work, forcing them to then give them all their wages earned each week. The couple used the money to purchase real estate and pay their own living expenses. The victims were forced to work in Amityville, Brentwood, and Coram, New York.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Child Labor2004
United States, United States, 2004
United States US
Help A Needy Child International (HANCI), which operates an orphanage and a home for destitute children in Sierra Leone’s northern town of Makeni. The scheme went like this: two of the prime suspects currently in police custody Henry Abu and John Gbla would allegedly identify and approach destitute parents and propose to them the adoption of their children by foster parents. The unsuspecting parents who could barely afford food for the family let alone send their children to school fall in for the bait and gladly give away their children.
Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016