Child Labor2009
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.
Domestic Servitude2009
United States US
Cook County Sheriff's Police Department arrested both individuals on Nov. 5, 2008.
CSEC2009
United States US
Joey Haring and Bradley Pryor picked up two 16 year olds and a 17 year old girl and took them to an East Memphis motel, offering them money for sex. According to court records, the men also hoped to sell one of the teens using an internet ad.
Child Labor2009
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
CSEC2009
United States US
According to the limited information online, the police investigation began "after receiving complaints from parents." Another report noted, " Authorities have been investigating the case since last summer after receiving a tip about the baby sitter's activities." On 1/28/09 the police then arrested, Aaron Zendejas. He was arrested and later plead guilty to committing a lewd act on a child and production of child pornography, and admitted an allegation that, for a couple of hundred dollars, he kidnapped the toddler in June 2008 so co- defendant Jared Yaffe could molest the boy. Zendjeas went on to plead guilty on 10/28/09 and waived his right to a trial. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by Judge David Danielsen The victim’s mother knew Zendejas for at least 10 years, since they were both 14 years old, and trusted him with the care of her child. According to family members, she was in a time of need when she asked Zendejas to help her out. The man Zendejas admitted to selling the child to, Jared Yaffe, is accused of molesting the boy and videotaping it. Yaffe is set to go to trial in 4/19/2010. Yaffe had originally fled to Brazil, but was located and extradited by the Brazillian police in 5/09. The San Diego police searched his home and allegedly found numerous photos of children engaged in sex acts on his computer and cell phone, according to court documents. Yaffe is charged with multiple felony counts, including child sexual assault and kidnapping charges involving three children. Yaffe allegedly persuaded the toddler in the El Cajon hotel room to perform a sex act on him by promising to take the child to McDonald's. Two videos found by authorities allegedly show Yaffe molesting the boy in an El Cajon hotel room, according to court documents.Yaffe faces up to 129 years to life in prison if convicted of child molestation, kidnapping to commit sexual acts and production of child pornography.
Forced Criminality2009
United States US
“In the early hours of April 15, officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement knocked on the door of 1809 Cortez Ave. Inside the single-family home, they say they found eight illegal immigrants imprisoned in a back bedroom. The room's doors had been wired shut and its windows had been boarded up. The men had recently been smuggled across the Mexican border, officials say. Testimony from a woman operating the safe house would later reveal that 31 men had been held in the home three days before. Agents had been led to the house by a scrap of paper. The previous evening, about 35 miles south of Escondido in San Diego's Barrio Logan, two men had arrived at a house on Franklin Street, according to police reports. Police allege the men brought with them Martin Guadarama, an illegal immigrant from Mexico whom they had smuggled into the country a few days before. The men, Luis Camacho Ventura and Mateo Alvarado, were there to pick up a ransom payment. Police officers said they had called Guadarama's wife demanding $1,300 and threatening to kill their hostage. "They told her they would dismember her husband and spread him all over the city if she didn't pay," said Lt. John Leas of the San Diego Police Department's robbery division. Guadarama's wife called the SDPD and, when the smugglers arrived to collect the money, they were apprehended by police officers. The officers searched the men, finding a letter addressed to Ventura at the Escondido address. Alvarado also had a handcuff key and a large amount of money, police say. Guadarama told the detectives that other immigrants were being held at the house against their will (Carless).”
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
According to an article in the Register-Guard, Mathias Rey DeVasier, 50, "'lived most of his life blameless,' serving in the U.S. Navy, leaving with an honorable discharge, and working for decades as a local steel fabricator until he was laid off last year." He contacted the victim over craigslist, believing she was 18 or 19 years old. After it became apparent of her age (14), he continued to engage in sex acts with her and facilitate her services to other clients. He also provided her with methamphetamine and invited her to come live in his house, which she did until rescued. DeVaiser reportedly drove her around to different clients and kept a part of her profits for "gas money", which is viewed by law enforcement as reimbursement money for rent.
Domestic Servitude2009
United States US
Prosecutors say Lubis threatened the women and their families with violence if they disobeyed him, and held their passports so they couldn't flee. The list of Lubis' 50 clients divulged in court filings by federal prosecutors includes a high-profile Washington attorney, multiple doctors -- among them a high-ranking doctor at a Maryland hospital -- and an engineer who invented an electric backup system for houses that use well water. No charges have been filed against the people who employed the women, and The Examiner has chosen not to release their names. But prosecutors had tough words for the wealthy area homeowners who used the slave labor. "The various employers are also participants" in Lubis' scheme, prosecutors wrote. "They knew or were willfully blind to the fact that the victims were illegal aliens and that Lubis harbored them." Lubis' actions amount to what human trafficking experts call modern-day slavery. "Traffickers take advantage of desperation," said Mark Lagon, director of the Polaris Project and former head of the State Department's human trafficking office. "They take advantage of people in such flagrant ways that it's slavery." Andrea Powell, director of Fair Fund, an advocacy group for human trafficking victims, said, "People are so desperate to come to the U.S. that they are willing to put up with all kinds of abuse, including slavery."
CSEC2009
United States US
seven underage girls were rescued
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Woman charged with prostituting a 14-year-old girl to support her drug habit. "20-year-old Sandra Panecka coerced the girl to run away from home in 2007 and then introduced her to drugs. They say Panecka eventually encouraged the girl to begin prostituting herself so they could both continue to buy cocaine. The victim says she was physically and sexually assaulted and was infected with sexually-transmitted diseases." http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=607111
CSEC2009
United States US
A five year old girl, Shaniya Davis, was reported missing on November 10th (Tuesday), 2009. Her mother was the one who reported that she had been abducted. Originally, her mother Antionette Davis had accused her boyfriend, Clarence D. Cole, of kidnapping Shaniya, and he was arrested and charged with kidnapping on Wednesday 11th, 2009. However, on Friday, November 13th, 2009, a man named Mario Andrette McNeil turned himself into police with a confession of kidnapping Shaniya. Police found survellience of McNeil with Shaniya taking her into a Stanford hotel at 6:11am, which is a two hour drive from Fayetteville, NC where she is from (this showed an inconsistency in the timing that her mother reported). At 9:12pm Staurday, November 14th, police charged Antionette Davis, Shaniya's mother, with human trafficking, felony child abuse, prostitution, filing a false police report, and resisting, obstructing or delaying justice. On Monday afternoon, November 16th, Shanyia was found dead on the side of highway 87 in North Carolina. The official cause of death was asphyxiation and autopsy results show that she was also raped. Further investigation showed that Shaniya's mother allegedly sold her into prostitution for monetary gain with the knowledge that she would be used for sex. Her father has suggested that the motive behind selling Shaniya was to pay off a drug debt. The case is ongoing and neither Antoinette or McNeil have been prosecuted yet. Both of their trail dates are set for late January, 2010.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The trafficker was arrested, charged, tried and convicted on 09/22/2010 of sex trafficking a 15-year old girl. He was also convicted of coercing a minor to engage in prostitution, harboring an illegal alien and failing to file a report with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Florence police, the FBI and ICE investigated the case.
Child Labor2009
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.
CSEC2009
United States US
The case is being investigated by the FBI and Lakewood Police Department as part of the Innocence Lost Task Force. Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham and Bruce Miyake. Hospedale is charged with Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child. Sex Trafficking of a Juvenile is punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release. The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. CASE UPDATE: Hospedales pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on July 20, 2010, to Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child: Agreeing that the parties would advocate for a term of imprisonment of between ten to fifteen years in prison. A Sentencing on October 25, 2010, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle may impose the sentence he believes is appropriate from the mandatory minimum of ten years imprisonment up to the statutory maximum of life in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Hospedales is required to register as a sex offender when released from prison. The U.S. Army is in the process of dishonorably discharging Hospedales from the military.
Domestic Servitude2009
United States US
Angela Galeana de Maddox (34 years old) and her husband, Robert Doyle Maddox (55 years old), brought a 12 year old girl back from Mexico to work as a domestic servant. They bought the girl from her mother for $10 and made promises to send $50 a month. Galeana reportedly beat the girl several times. On one occasion she also tried to make the girl ingest water from a toilet. They plead guilty to charges of forced child labor. Galeana received 7 years imprisonment. Maddox received 2 years 9 months. They were also ordered to pay back wages.
Forced Labor2009
United States US
The girl told police she got involved when another minor female, who said she was being prostituted by the trafficker, told her she could make up to $100 for each man she had sex with, a police report states. One teenage girl told investigators she was given gas money to drive Trotter and another underage girl to different locations where they were paid to have sex, while yet another teenage girl told police the trafficker took her to a residence one night where she was paid to have sex with five men. One teenage girl interviewed by police denied being prostituted by the trafficker, instead, her "job" was to hand out condoms to the men to "protect the girls." The trafficker admitted introducing the girls to men who paid them for sex, but denied taking any money the girls were paid for sexual acts when she was interviewed by investigators, a police report states. The girls were threatened when they tried to stop being prostituted, and the trafficker took 1/2 of all money earned.
CSEC2009
United States US
" Officers busted a massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg this week, and found evidence that young immigrant women from China may have been forced to work as prostitutes at the New China Massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg. We've been told it was a busy place, with customers coming in every half an hour, day and night. With different groups of young Asian women providing massages, and police say prostitution. By the signs in the window it looks like a place to get a foot massage. But Fresno Police believe this place was selling sex. Numerous complaints and tips that there may be illegal activity going on, specifically prostitution," said Jeff Cardinale, Fresno Police Spokesperson."
CSEC2009
United States US
A state grand jury has indicted 15 illegal immigrants on suspicion of operating a prostitution ring that dates back to at least 2006. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers told 7NEWS that the group operated 11 brothels in Denver, Longmont and Glenwood Springs. Suthers said the brothels operated under the name Mi Casa Su Casa and were headed by Sonia Montoya-Cadena. At each location, the indictment said, the brothels would collect $40 to $50 from each patron for 15 minutes of sex. The house would split the money with the prostitutes. After the patrons paid for sex, they would receive a glass bead or other object to give the prostitutes to show they had paid, the indictment alleged.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Jermaine Rogers was charged with human trafficking, kidnapping/seizure or confinement without consent, and 2nd degree sexual assault with use of force.
CSEC2009
United States US
No information released other than boyfriend of victim. He sold his then 14-year old girlfriend to 7 adult males for meth. She fought back but was overpowered because she had been bought.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Law enforcement had been involved from the beginning of the case. Originally, they were investigating the missing persons report until it became a trafficking case. Both Galindo and Martinez were arrested. Galindo was cited for statutory rape and released. In February, Martinez pleaded not guilty to procuring a child for lewd acts, aiding and abetting statutory rape and child endangerment. On April 7, 2009, Martinez changed his plea to no contest, in exchange for reduced charges of felony child endangerment. Under the conditions of the plea bargain, he will serve up to a year in jail and face deportation after that.
CSEC2009
United States US
Justin Cephus, 31, Stanton Cephus, 28, and Jovan Stewart, 30, all of Hammond, Haneef Jackson-Bey, 20, of East Chicago, and Delbert Patterson, 19, of Steger, Ill., have been charged with conspiring to commit and committing sex trafficking and prostitution violations. The indictment charges all five with participating in the conspiracy and committing one or more offenses involving the sex trafficking of minors, the transportation of minors across state lines for the purpose of prostitution, the sex trafficking of adult women through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, and the transportation of minor and adult women form Indiana to Illinois and from Illinois to Indiana for the purposes of prostitution. Prosecutors say the defendants were brutal with the prostitutes. The defendants and others who were not charged Tuesday punched, kicked, cut, choked and sexually assaulted prostitutes, according to the charges. The defendants intimidated the prostitutes, attacking women within sight or earshot of other women, the indictment claims. The defendants gave the women cocaine, Ecstasy, Xanax and other drugs "as a means of numbing their senses," the indictment states.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John Morton, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York; Richard Dormer, Suffolk County Police Commissioner; Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office; and Patricia J. Haynes, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, New York. The joint investigation revealed that Antonio Rivera, a Registered Sex Offender, and his sister Jasmin Rivera owned and operated the Sonidos de la Frontera bar, located in Lake Ronkonkoma, and the La Hija del Mariachi bar, located in Farmingville. Whaley was employed as a manager in both bars. From September 2007 through the present, the Riveras and Whaley allegedly lured young women, primarily Central American illegal immigrants, to work in the bars as waitresses and hostesses. Some of the women were as young as 17 years of age. As set forth in the complaint, after the women began working in the bars, the defendants forced them to engage in sex acts with bar patrons in exchange for money, with the defendants keeping half of the proceeds. When the women refused or resisted, the defendants used physical force, including rape and assaults, and threatened to report the women to immigration authorities. The defendants also controlled the movement of the women between the bars and other locations in Hempstead, Huntington, and Brentwood, transporting them in vehicles registered to the Riveras and Whaley. The complaint also charges the defendants with conspiring to harbor illegal aliens by concealing the women’s true identities and immigration status from state licensing agencies and law enforcement authorities. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Dormer stated, “These serious crimes against young women will not be tolerated in Suffolk County. This Department values its role as the local law enforcement component of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force for Long Island. This case demonstrates the effectiveness of the task force paradigm, which coordinates the efforts of local and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as community service agencies, support groups, and educational entities. We hope these arrests will put others on notice that sex trafficking and similar crimes will continue to be a high priority for this Department.” The details of the investigation cannot be found yet, but one article reports: While dozens of women have been working in the bars, the raids are based on evidence provided by four of them who have been cooperating with investigators, according to court papers and sources. One of the women told investigators that she entered the country illegally and was recruited by the operators of the ring as a waitress when she was 17, the court papers said. She said she was repeatedly raped by one of the operators, according to court papers. To stop the rapes, she said she created an imaginary boyfriend. But her attacker told her "Boyfriend! Watch what I'm going to do to you. Your boyfriend will never want to touch you again." Shortly after, a security guard at the club bashed "her head into the pavement of the parking lot" breaking several teeth and causing black eyes, bruises and lacerations, the papers said. Several of the women said that they had been recruited to work as waitresses through ads on Spanish-language Internet sites and newspapers, promising pay of $40 a day plus tips, and half of the price of the $20 shots of tequila they sold to the undocumented clientele, according to papers. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko said the town had been cooperating with the police and federal investigation.
Forced Labor2009
United States US
Benny and Nissan Pirian (owners of Celebrity Carwash, Five Star Carwash and Hollywood Carwash) and Manuel Rayes (owner of Vermont Hand wash) are up against a maximum of 80 years in prison, over $136,000 in fines each and 176 counts of criminal misconduct, witness intimidation, grand theft, brandishing a deadly weapon (used bat and machete after workers joined union), failure to pay wages (they often paid less than half of minimum wage), hiring minors, operating without workers' compensation insurance, denying workers meal and rest breaks, giving the works recycled water and failure to comply with wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Many workers also suffered numerous cuts and burns from the dangerous machinery and chemicals used in the carwashes.