The data
Every case on SlaveryMap, drawn from public sources and shown with its location deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
631 of 1,631 cite a source · Updated
United States US
Between December 2023 and January 2024, two men trafficked a 16-year-old runaway for commercial sex across North and South Carolina, advertising her online, arranging encounters in hotel rooms and keeping the money she earned.
Philippines PH
Five children in the Philippines were sexually exploited in livestreamed webcam shows purchased by a U.S.-based offender. The offender purchased at least 15 livestreams, communicated with traffickers in the Philippines, negotiated payments and directed specific sexual acts for the children to perform.
Belize BZ
According the Magistrates Court, fifty-four year old naturalized Belizean, Narciza Orellana of Santa Elena Town was found guilty on January 31, 2012 of Attempted Trafficking in Persons. Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith sentenced Orellana to eighteen months in prison. The charge is in relation to an incident on April 26, 2010 when Orellana attempted to recruit a female minor with intentions to use her as a commercial sex worker.
Belize BZ
On or about February 10, 2012, Yolanda Garcia, 41, was convicted and given a custodial sentence for trafficking of persons by Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith. Garcia is a hair dresser and manager of the La Serenita Bar located on Regent Street West. She is also a mother of three. According to the police, from June 29 to July 6 of 2010, she engaged in the trafficking of persons when she hired a 17 year-old female minor to work in her bar. The minor told police that she had just graduated from high school. This minor also said that Garcia allegedly told her that part of her job description is that she is required to have sex with customers for money.
United States US
On November 30, 2011, Don Kai Chen, 43, Quincy, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to transport women in interstate travel for the purpose of prostitution. On November 16, 2011, Jin Liang Chen 31, pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to transport women in interstate travel for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, and harboring aliens. As alleged in the Indictment, from August of 2004 through February of 2010, defendants Hong Wei, a/k/a “Ms. Chen,” 37, of Flushing, N.Y.; Jing Liang Chen, a/k/a “Mike,” 30, of Quincy, Mass.; Xiang Hua Zhang, a/k/a “Darren,” 27, of Flushing, N.Y.; Yu En Jin, a/k/a “Eric,” 26, of Quincy, Mass.; and Don Kai Chen, engaged in a conspiracy to entice Asian women to travel to Mass. for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Jin Liang Chen faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy and inducing travel for prostitution, 20 years on each of the two forced labor charges and 10 years on each of the two charges of harboring aliens. Jin Liang Chen will be sentenced by Judge George O’Toole on Mar. 7, 2012, at 2 p.m. At the plea hearing, Chen admitted that from August of 2004 through March of 2010, he conspired with co-defendant Hong Wei to entice Asian women to travel to Massachusetts for purposes of engaging in prostitution. Darren Liu previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and was sentenced last week to 21 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. At the plea hearing, Don Kai Chen admitted that from August of 2004 through February of 2010, he conspired with defendant Hong Wei, a/k/a “Ms. Chen”, to transport women to Mass. from out of state for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. scheduled Don Kai Chen’s sentencing for February 2, 2012. Don Kai Chen faces up to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on the conspiracy charge. The Indictment charges defendants Wei and Jing Liang Chen with sex trafficking and harboring illegal aliens and using force, fraud and coercion to cause the women to engage in a commercial sex act which the defendants benefitted from financially. All of the defendants are charged with engaging in a conspiracy to coerce and entice women to travel to Mass. for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. The conspiracy involved the use of advertising in various newspapers in N.Y., Calif., Mass. and elsewhere, seeking the services of Asian women to work in the defendants’ brothels. The women generally arrived at South Street Bus Station in Boston from N.Y. and elsewhere around the country, and were thereafter transported to various apartments throughout Mass. where they then engaged in prostitution. Some of the women were not legally in the U.S. when they were harbored in the brothels. Some of the women were forced to work in the brothels.
United States US
Michael Malcom, age 55, from Humboldt, Iowa, Ashley Prince, age 21, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Nikki Fawcett, age 23, from Fort Dodge, Iowa charged with child sexual exploitation and other charges. The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed December 19, 2011, in United States District Court in Sioux City. The Indictment alleges that, between 2007 and 2010, Malcom, Prince, and Fawcett employed, used, persuaded, induced, and enticed one or more minors under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of this conduct. The Indictment alleges that Malcom and Prince conspired to sexually exploit children, and it alleges that Malcom and Fawcett transported persons across a state line, including a person under 18, with the intent that these persons engage in prostitution. If convicted, Malcom faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and up to life in prison, $1,250,000 in fines, $500 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. If convicted, Prince faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 60 years’ imprisonment, $500,000 in fines, $200 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. If convicted, Fawcett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and up to life in prison, $750,000 in fines, $300 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. Malcom, Prince, and Fawcett appeared December 19, 2011, in federal court in Sioux City and were released on bond. Their next appearance for trial is set for February 6, 2012.
United States US
Wayne Allen Ginnis, 28, of Seattle, Washington, was arraigned January 11, 2012 in United States District Court in Pocatello, Idaho on a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to have sexual activity with the minor, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Ginnis entered a not guilty plea. Ginnis and co-defendant James Russell Ashley were indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2011. Ashley, 47, of Augusta, Georgia, was arraigned on August 24, 2011. The indictment alleges that on or about May 2, 2011, Ashley and Ginnis purchased bus tickets for two girls, ages 12 and 13, both from Pocatello, Idaho to travel to Hollywood, California, with the intent to engage in sexual activity with the girls. The girls and the men met on an Internet game site and later talked by cell phone. The girls were intercepted by police in St. George, Utah, and returned to their home.
United States US
Lashad Alexander, 24, of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced September 29, 2011 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to nine years in prison, three years of supervised release and $130,000 in restitution for human trafficking. Alexander pleaded guilty in February 2011, admitting he forced a young woman to work as a prostitute in the Tacoma area, and financially benefitted from the prostitution acts. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said, “this is just terrible… It amounts to slavery. Society cannot allow it.” The court documents establish that Alexander had recruited a juvenile female in 2005 to engage in acts of prostitution, and that this girl worked as a prostitute for him until his arrest March 29, 2010. The female victim is now an adult. Alexander assisted the victim’s prostitution activities by purchasing clothing, condoms, and cellular telephones for her to use while working. Alexander also bought debit cards for the victim to use to post sex advertisements on the internet. Alexander rented motel rooms for prostitution. The victim had to provide Alexander with her earnings from her work as a prostitute. On some occasions, Alexander struck the victim and caused her to believe that she would suffer serious harm if she did not earn money for him as a prostitute. Today Alexander was ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to the victim.
United States US
Anthony C. Willoughby, Jr., age 38, of Toledo, Ohio. was found guilty on December 16, 2011 of juvenile sex trafficking by fraud, force, and coercion following a four-day trial in U.S. District Court. Willoughby was indicted on Sept. 29, 2010, on the charge on which he went to trial. At trial, the evidence established that Willoughby moved a 16-year-old, identified in the indictment as S.W., into his home, and began to have sex with her on a daily basis. He soon thereafter began to have S.W. prostitute for him, soliciting customers off a list provided by Willoughby. Willoughby drove S.W. to prostitution appointments, also made S.W. solicit on a street noted for prostitution and sold her for sex to a visitor. Over several weeks, he got more threatening and violent toward her, culminating in several beatings.
United States US
Robert Brathwaite, 37, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced December 2011 to a prison term of 10 years on federal charges of sex trafficking of children, transportation of a minor for the purpose of prostitution, and possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). A co-defendant, Tavia Crudup, 23, of Suitland, Md., was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for tampering with evidence and obstructing the sex trafficking prosecution. Both defendants pled guilty in September 2011 and were sentenced by the Honorable John D. Bates in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. Upon completion of his prison term, Brathwaite will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender. Crudup will be placed on three years of supervised release once she completes serving her prison term. According to evidence presented at the plea hearing, Brathwaite first encountered the victim, a 14-year-old girl, in May 2011. The victim, who had run away from her home in another state, was living in an apartment in the District of Columbia. Brathwaite, also known as “Smoke,” transported the victim to various places in the District and Maryland to prostitute for him. Crudup, a prostitute who identified herself as “Rain” or “Cupcake,” schooled the teenager about how much money to charge for sex and how to conduct herself as a prostitute. She assisted Brathwaite in transporting the victim. On May 31, 2011, the victim was picked up by the Metropolitan Police Department for truancy. An investigation then led police to Brathwaite, who was located, along with Crudup, in a Lexus sport utility vehicle. Law enforcement officers later executed a search warrant and found a fully loaded semi-automatic firearm in the vehicle. Brathwaite was arrested. In the weeks that followed, Crudup destroyed evidence and talked with Brathwaite about ways to obstruct evidence in the case. Among other things, she instructed another person to throw away the victim’s clothes. Crudup subsequently was charged for her role in the case.
Mexico MX
Five men and two women were detained in raids on five bars and are being held pending investigation for alleged human trafficking, organized crime, pimping and corruption of a minor. Police freed 62 female victims of a forced-prostitution ring in Mexico City, including a 13-year-old girl, prosecutors said. One of the bars in the case was known as "La Pasarela," or "The Runway," was in business for decades. The women complained they were forced to work as prostitutes in the capital's downtown sector and had to hand over their earnings to a group of pimps, Mexico City chief prosecutor Miguel Mancera said Monday. Mancera said the women were forced to have sex in tiny bedrooms smaller than 6 1/2 feet (6 meters) a side. They would charge between $9 and $26 and paid pimps $4. Mancera's office said one of the victims told police that a man had befriended her in another state and offered to find her work in Mexico City. Upon arriving in the capital, she and other women were forced to prostitute themselves.
United States US
Turner's first victim escaped and fled to Oakland police. It is presumed this led to the discovery of the second victim.
United States US
Police said Kendel Morrel, 22, not only coerced a 17-year-old girl to sell herself for sex, but he also tried to sell her for a three-day period as a sex slave. Action 7 News spoke with the undercover agent who exposed the crime. “I believe whole-heartedly that this girl initially started out thinking there would be a job -- a connection possibly turning into a relationship,” said the undercover agent. The teen met Morrell over Facebook, police said. When the teen posted a notification asking for a job, Morrell jumped at the opportunity, according to the agent. “Conversation went over for a period of time, where he was really grooming her for the act of prostitution,” said the undercover agent. Morrell told the girl she'd be selling hip-hop magazines and CDs, but soon the story changed, according to police. Police said he coaxed the underage girl to have sex, then gave her a phone and instructions. “(He said) whenever you answer it, you need to say that it's X amount of dollars for 15 min. X amount for 30 min. X amount for an hour's time -- you're going to treat these guys fair,” said the undercover agent. Police said Morrell posted racy photos of the girl on Backpage.com to find clients. The girl told police that he made her have sex with at least one man who knew she was underage. Police also said that Morrell took the 17-year-old to a meeting with several other people and agreed to sell [her] for $3,000 for three days.
United States US
case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
United States US
Mariece Chevalia Sims and Dwayne B. Thigpen abducted a 16-year-old from Arkansas and forced her into prostitution in Texarkana, Arkansas; Gulfport, Mississippi; and Atlanta, Georgia. Sims and Thigpen sexually assaulted and continually threatened the victim. Sims and Thigpen were charged with kidnapping; transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Thigpen pled guilty to one count of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Sims was found guilty at trial of kidnapping; forced labor; sex trafficking of children; and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Thigpen was sentenced to 5 years in prison and five years supervised release. Sims was sentenced to life in prison; five years supervised release, and was ordered to pay $500.00 in fines.
United States US
On November 23, 2010, a federal jury convicted Amador Cortes-Meza, 36, of Tlaxcala, Mexico, of multiple charges of sex trafficking and human smuggling offenses related to a scheme to force women and juveniles into prostitution. The jury found Cortes-Meza guilty on all 19 counts after a trial lasting approximately two weeks. According to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, “This defendant preyed on the most vulnerable of victims--girls and young women hoping for a better life-- through promises of jobs or marriage. He then physically abused them, enslaved them, and forced them into prostitution. According to the evidence presented in court, from Spring 2006 through June 2008, Amador Cortes-Meza and others charged in the conspiracy recruited and enticed approximately 10 victims to enter the United States illegally from Mexico and come to the Atlanta area. Amador Cortes-Meza then forced them into prostitution for the financial benefit of the members of the conspiracy. He lured the young women and girls to the U.S. by promising better lives, legitimate employment or romantic relationships with him. A brother and two nephews of Amador Cortes-Meza were previously convicted after pleading guilty to sex trafficking charges related to this scheme. Nine of the victims addressed the court about what they suffered at the hands of this sex trafficking ring, telling of physical threats, beatings, and intimidation which caused them to work as prostitutes against their will. Evidence at trial showed that after smuggling the victims into the United States, Amador Cortes-Meza forced them to engage in prostitution by isolating them from their families, brutally beating them, and threatening to harm them and their loved ones. One victim testified that he told her that “he was going to hit her where it hurt the most” and she took that to mean he was going to go after her family. Another victim testified that the defendant told her he would kill her parents in Mexico if he was ever arrested. On a nightly basis, Amador Cortes-Meza provided the victims to drivers who drove them to apartments and homes in Duluth, Ga.; Chamblee, Ga.; Canton, Ga.; Marietta, Ga.; Forrest Park, Ga.; and as far away as Alabama and North Carolina to provide commercial sex to as many as 40 customers a night. The victims testified that the clients were charged $25-30 for 10 to 15 minutes of time with them from which the drivers were given $10.
United States US
Matthew Tompkins and associate Demetrius Lemus. Tompkins forced over 30 women into prostitution the youngest of which was 14 years old. Thompkins assets totaled over three million dollars. On March 27, 2008, Thompkins was sentenced to 23.3 years in prison and lifetime supervised release. Demetrius Lemus was sentenced to eight years a reduced sentence because he testified against Thompkins.
United States US
Chesire Martinez Robinson, a/k/a “Candyman,” 30, of Austell, Georgia, was sentenced December 5, 2011 by United States District Judge J. Owen Forrester for conspiracy to engage in, and the commission of, sex trafficking of a minor and transporting a minor in interstate commerce for prostitution. Robinson was convicted of the charges on September 14, 2011, after a jury trial which lasted three days. According to United States Attorney Yates, the indictment and information presented in court: In or about July 2009, and continuing through on or about October 2, 2009, Robinson, a convicted felon, caused the victim, a 16-year-old girl, to engage in prostitution at various hotels and at a truck stop in the Atlanta area. Robinson brought the victim, who he knew to be a minor, from her home in South Carolina to the Atlanta area. He placed photographs of the victim in escort and erotic services sections of various Internet websites, and used those ads to recruit men to engage in commercial sex acts with the victim. The victim worked for Robinson six nights per week for numerous hours each night, giving all of her money to Robinson. During a mere eight weeks, Robinson earned more than $14,000 from the victim’s commercial sex acts.
Philippines PH
Pagdilao said that CIDG-WCPD operating elements led by Police Superintendent Emma M. Libunao raided around 9:00 PM last night the Sweet Girl Honey Pot night club situated at Fields Avenue, Baligabo, Angeles City and rescued the 42 victims. The head of the raiding team, Police Superintendent Emma M. Libunao, said the raid stemmed from a complaint made by Ledillia Cortez of Camp O’ Donnel, Capas, Tarlac that her 17-year old niece who had been missing for a week after she left to look for a job was being held in a night club in Angeles City. Cortez told CIDG that she received a text message from her niece last May 14, 2011 that the latter wants to be rescued because the floor manager of the said club was forcibly arranging her to a bar-fine, a deal which allows male customers to take out female club workers for sexual services elsewhere in exchange for a P1,500 fine. The 17-year old victim later told CIDG investigators that she was forcibly being held by the floor manager because of the debt she has incurred from availing the club’s uniform for its women workers.
United States US
GIOVANNI VAZQUEZ, also known as “Screech,” 24, of Norwalk, pleaded guilty on September 29, 2011 before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport to one count of transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The charge stems from VAZQUEZ’ involvement in an interstate prostitution enterprise that included the sex trafficking of two minor victims. According to court documents and statements made in court, VAZQUEZ and others were involved in a prostitution business. In pleading guilty, VAZQUEZ admitted that, in November 2010, he and a co-defendant transported a victim from Connecticut to New York to engage in prostitution. VAZQUEZ also admitted that he and others trafficked other victims, including two minors who were 14-years-old and 17-years-old, across state lines to engage in prostitution.
United States US
Cops cracked the case after one victim's sister called a sex trafficking hotline established in June 2010 by Kings County prosecutors and reported that her sister was being held against her will by a pimp. The sister said that during the time he was forcing the victim to be a prostitute, Mr. Rogers had prevented her from going to school and that the family had not been able contact her. According to the indictment, Mr. Rogers began forcing the 17-year-old victim into prostitution in 2008 and told her that if she did not make at least $1,000 a night, he would beat her. On at least one occasion, he tortured and killed a mouse to show what he would do if she ran away. Mr. Rogers met the 15-year-old victim a year later and used similar intimidation tactics, according to the indictment, which also accused him of locking the victims in an apartment that Mr. Songster guarded. Rogers is accused of branding his nickname - Scooby - across one girl's back, videotaping them having sex and peddling the movies online for cash. On his Facebook page, he listed his activities as "pimpin hoes" and "getting this money."
United States US
Richard Costanzo, 45, of Carter Lake, Iowa, was sentenced on November 4, 2011, to 96 months in prison by Chief United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon, in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Costanzo previously pled guilty to Conspiracy to commit various prostitution offenses during 1997 to 2009; three counts of Using a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution; one count of Transportation with intent to promote prostitution; and two counts of Money laundering. Following a hearing on October 12 and 13, 2011, Judge Bataillon had found that Mr. Costanzo knowingly caused a minor to engage in prostitution. Evidence presented at that hearing also indicated that Mr. Costanzo had operated his escort business for over 10 years. Mr. Costanzo also pled guilty to witness tampering in a related case. He received a sentence of 96 months for that conviction, to run concurrently. Richard Costanzo is the President of Dream Girls, Inc. a Nebraska corporation. Theresa Costanzo, (the sister of Richard Costanzo), Janna Wasko, (Richard Costanzo’s ex-wife), and Michael Wasko, (the husband of Janna Wasko), are all alleged in an April 2010 indictment to have worked at the business in various capacities. The indictment alleges that Dream Girls, Inc., advertised itself under many different names and held itself out as an escort service but was a front for prostitution. The indictment also alleges at least one of the escorts who worked at the business was under 18 years of age.
United States US
Janna Wasko, 39, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on December 1, 2011 by Chief United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon, in Omaha, Nebraska to a term of six months in the Bureau of Prisons and six months of home confinement. Ms. Wasko previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit various prostitution offenses during 1997 to 2009. Ms. Wasko cooperated with authorities in the prosecution. She testified at a sentencing hearing in October 2011 regarding one of her co-defendants, Richard Costanzo. Following that hearing, Judge Bataillon found that Mr. Costanzo had knowingly caused a minor to engage in prostitution. Mr. Costanzo was later sentenced to 96 months in prison.
United States US
Robert Lewis Young aka “Blue Diamond”, DR grey Kimmel, and Jody Spears. Young transported juveniles from Hawaii to Chicago and Detroit. Young was sentenced to 25 years in prison; 5 years supervised release, and ordered to pay $67,000 in child support for his 12 children. On Oct. 30, 2007, one of Young’s pimp partners, Jody Spears, was sentenced to eight years. On May 29, 2008, Kimmel plead guilty to one count of money laundering and agreed to forfeit $405,000.