Type of modern slavery
CSEC
The commercial sexual exploitation of a person under 18. Treated as trafficking under international law regardless of apparent consent.
SlaveryMap documents 387 cases of csec.
Tacoma, Washington, USA, United States
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.
Pocatello, Idaho, USA, United States
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.
Washington, DC, USA, United States
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.
Belize City, Belize, Belize
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.
Belize City, Belize, Belize
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.
Toledo, Ohio, USA, United States
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.
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, United States
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.
Fort Dodge, Iowa, USA, United States
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.
Sacramento County, United States
Mahendar "Mike" Singh, 40, and his wife, Helen Jean Singh, 22. Both are natives of Sacramento. Mahendar admitted to recruiting teenage females to provide sex services in exchange for money and drugs and to knowing that at least one of the teenagers was a juvenile. Mahendar Singh also admitted that he and his co-defendant(his wife) were able to maintain their victims’ services by providing them with money, clothing, and drugs, promising them a family-like environment, and using and threatening the use of physical force. An affidavit filed in connection with this case alleged that the defendants used an Internet website to advertise their victims and employed cell phones and text messaging to make arrangements with customers.
Carter Lake, Iowa, USA, United States
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.
Memphis, Tennessee, USA, United States
Kala Bray, 18, pleaded guilty in federal court on November 4, 2011for her role in a conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. According to the Indictment, in July and August of 2011, Bray and her co-defendant, Vincent Jones, recruited two Memphis-area juveniles and lured them to Houston, Texas with false promises of atrip to a water park. Bray and Jones plied the teens with drugs including Oxycontin and Xanax and made the juveniles engage in commercial sex acts both in Memphis and Houston for the financial benefit of Bray and Jones. Bray faces up to a life sentence for the conspiracy charge. As part of the plea, the United States agreed to dismiss other charges related to the conspiracy. Bray is set to be sentenced on February 10, 2012.
Sacramento, California, USA, United States
This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Innocence Lost Task Force, a task force comprised of the FBI, the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case. Docket #: :11-CR-477 JAM The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591 is no less than 10 years in prison, and up to life, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime period of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
Springfield, Virginia, USA, United States
Rances Ulices Amaya, a/k/a “Blue” or “Murder,” 23, of Springfield, VA, was indicted November 23, 2011, on charges of conspiracy and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for each sex trafficking count and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy. According to court documents, Amaya is a leader of the Guanacos Lokotes Salvatrucha (GLS) clique of MS-13. In June 2009 and throughout the fall of that year, Amaya is accused of conspiring with others to recruit multiple juvenile females to work as a prostitutes and transporting them throughout Northern Virginia for appointments that Amaya had arranged with clients. He is accused of providing the juveniles with alcohol and narcotics to facilitate the prostitution scheme, along with remaining with the juveniles during prostitution appointments to ensure the clients did not violate the rules he had set for the sexual encounter.
Carter Lake, Iowa, USA, United States
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.
Austell, Georgia, USA, United States
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.
Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, United States
The young girl's mom called authorities on October 27, 2011 to report her daughter was missing. She told police that she found her daughter's photo on an adult entertainment website. Jensen, who went by the alias Remy, had made a deal on behalf of the teen to have sex with the man, who called himself Mad Mike, for $150. When the man asked for a location for the duo to meet, Jensen gave her address and was arrested -- after a brief struggle -- in her home. The teen, who has not been identified, was also discovered in the apartment. According to police, Jensen was going to start training the teen to become a prostitute.
Denver, Colorado, USA, United States
Timothy Wayne Lee, age 45, formerly of Denver, Colorado was sentenced late today to serve 180 months (15 years) in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn for sex trafficking of a child and aiding and abetting. Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on September 30, 2010. He pled guilty before Judge Blackburn to charges from both the District of Colorado and the Eastern District of California on July 12, 2011. He was sentenced December 2, 2011. According to court documents, beginning in 2003 and ending in 2009, Lee was responsible for the sex trafficking of minors who had not yet attained the age of 18. Lee did knowingly transport minors who had not attained the age of 18 across state lines. Timothy Wayne Lee pleaded guilty in July to two counts of sex trafficking of a child stemming from cases in Colorado and California. According to the plea deal, Lee coerced girls as young as 16 to come work for him as prostitutes and provided them with drugs.Both girls were runaways when Lee met them. Lee, 45, has had a string of prostitution-related arrests, according to his plea agreement. In 2002, he was fined for soliciting prostitution in Denver. In 2003, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail on a prostitution charge. In 2010, he was sentenced to three years in prison in Tennessee in a prostitution case. And his federal plea bargain will result in the dismissal of state prostitution charges in New Mexico. As part of his plea agreement, Lee admitted to advertising the girls on the internet and charging $200 an hour. All of the money went back to Lee.Authorities said Lee also used at least five adult women as prostitutes.
Oakland Park, Florida, USA, United States
James Mozie, 34, was found guilty by a federal jury on December 20, 2011 of all charges against him in United States v. James Mozie. After a 5-day trial, the jury found defendant Mozie guilty of all ten counts in the indictment, including sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Mozie was also convicted of production of child pornography. At trial, seven different victims, many them runaways at the time they met Mozie, testified that they worked or were recruited to work as prostitutes at Mozie’s residence, which he advertised as “The Boom Boom Room.” According to the trial evidence, The Boom Boom Room, also known as Lot 29, operated for more than a year as a house of prostitution. Mozie advertised the business through the use of mass text messages to his contacts letting people know about the activities at the house each night. When customers arrived, they paid a cover charge to the security guard working the front door. The victims, many of them minors, worked in the house dancing for tips and engaging in sexual activity with male customers for money. Seven victims, all minors when the offenses occurred, testified that when they first arrived at the residence, Mozie had them complete an application asking for information such as name and stage name, date of birth, and specifying what sexual acts they were willing to perform. All of the minor victims testified that they provided their correct dates of birth to Mozie, who advised them not to tell customers that they were underage. Several of the minor victims testified that before working as a prostitute for Mozie, he required them to have sex with him as part of their “orientation," which he explained was his way of “testing the merchandise.” They also testified that Mozie would take sexually explicit images of them, which he attached to the text messages advertising the brothel. Co-defendant Laschell “Shelly” Harris pled guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and was sentenced on November 16, 2011 to 13 years in prison. Co-defendant Willie David Rice pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Seatac, Washington, USA, United States
Tramble first came to the attention of law enforcement in or about August 2010, when Kent Police Department officers encountered a juvenile female working as a prostitute. This victim told police how Tramble beat and coerced her, and how he advertised her as a prostitute on Backpage.com. Further investigation by law enforcement revealed that Tramble forced numerous women to work for him as prostitutes. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Force, which is composed of local, state and federal law enforcement officers who investigate juvenile prostitution. Key assistance was provided by the Kent Police Department.
Elyria, Ohio, United States
Davis was arrested earlier this year after the FBI launched an investigation when they saw a photo of a girl they knew to be under the age of 18 on the website Backpage.com.
Pulaski Road and Augusta Blvd., Chicago, Illinois, USA, United States
Datqunn Sawyer, 32, was convicted November 21, 2011 of running a sex trafficking ring in which nine victims were forced into prostitution. The conviction came after a federal jury deliberated for several hours beginning November 18, 2011, according to a press release issued by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Sawyer was convicted after a two-week trial of 10 counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors by force. During the trial, officials said that Sawyer acted as a pimp who preyed on vulnerable victims including girls who were young, homeless, or runaways, officials said. Officials said eight of the victims were between 13 and 17. Sawyer used violence and threats of violence to exploit them sexually, knowing they were minors, officials said. Six victims testified during the trial that Sawyer recruited and groomed the victims by initially concealed that he was a pimp but promised riches and glamour if they stayed with him, officials said. He ran the ring between 2006 and 2010, officials said. He convinced the victims that he loved them and wanted to be in a long-term romantic relationship, according to officials. Sawyer also used threats and beatings to enforce a rigid set of rules that left him in control of the victims, officials said.To maintain control he had sex with the victims and impregnated three of them, officials said. Sawyer even gave the victims nicknames beginning with "P" including Precious, Paradise, Pooh, Peaches, because his own nickname was "P-Child". He also had them call him "Daddy" and had his nickname tattooed on their arms. If they spoke back to him or disrespected him he threatened them or beat them, officials said. He also forbade them from speaking with or even looking at other men except for clients, officials said. “Pooh”, whose real name is Angelique, was soon put on the streets to prostitute herself, and even given a quota – she had to have sex with five to 15 men every day, she testified. Sometimes, when she had a “good day,” she said she was rewarded with McDonald’s. As the months wore on, there was one day, after Sawyer dropped her off at the so-called “track” along Cicero Avenue that she testified she just couldn’t do it. She took off her high heels, sat down on the concrete and wept, she said. That’s when she said Sawyer appeared from the alley. “You stupid bitch, you’re supposed to be making my money!” she said he snapped at her. He grabbed her discarded heel and beat her head with it until she started bleeding, she said. She ran off to her grandmother’s house. But like many of the girls who lived in an apartment with Sawyer at Augusta Boulevard and Pulaski Road on the city’s West Side, Angelique returned to Sawyer. Two other men, Kevin Sharp, 53, and Waymond Orr, 33, who worked as drivers and security guards for Sawyer pleaded guilty before Sawyer's trial. Sawyer paid Sharp and Orr in cash and gave them clothes, food, and housing, in exchange for driving victims to and from sexual encounters on the street, referred to as “working the track,” including various locations on and around Cicero Avenue. Other locations were arranged through online advertisements, such as on Craigslist and similar web sites. Sharp and Orr watched victims to make sure they were not arrested or “stolen” by another pimp. On occasion, Sawyer told Sharp and Orr to watch victims and make sure they did not leave while Sawyer was away from the house. Both Sharp and Orr knew about Sawyer’s rules and were present when Sawyer beat his victims.
San Diego, California, USA, United States
The charges are the result of "Operation Vice Grip," an 18-month investigation spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oceanside Police Department and the Escondido Police Department. Operation Vice Grip focused on prostitution activities orchestrated by members and associates of the Oceanside Crips street gang. According to court documents, in recent years this street gang has focused its for-profit criminal activity on promoting and managing prostitution in San Diego County and throughout the United States. The gang-controlled prostitution spawned a "pimping" subculture that enforced strict rules with consequences for individuals who violated them. In addition, the following agencies provided substantial assistance with the investigation - the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Carlsbad Police Department; the North County Gang Task Force; the Riverside County Sheriff's Department - Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team; and the San Diego County Jurisdictions United for Drug and Gang Enforcement (JUDGE) Task Force.
anlong veng, cambodia, Thailand
"The three unmarked police cars ahead of us pulled up in front of the brothel, and the police and prosecutor ran in. Somaly and I followed and watched as police with assault rifles confiscated cellphones from the brothel manager, a middle-aged woman, and her male partner, so that they couldn’t call for reinforcements. We quickly found five girls and one young woman, three Cambodians and three Vietnamese. The youngest turned out to be a seventh grader trafficked from Vietnam three months earlier, making her about 12 years old. The anti-trafficking police found 10 rooms equipped with beds and full of discarded condoms in the trash; the rooms all locked with padlocks from the outside, presumably to incarcerate girls inside. Several other young girls Somaly had photographed in her earlier visit couldn’t be found, despite a frantic search of all the locked rooms. 'They’re probably kept at another house in town, but we don’t know where it is,' Somaly said." --http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/kristof-fighting-back-one-brothel-raid-at-a-time.html
Mission, Texas, USA, United States
Beleal Garcia-Gonzalez, 35, of Mission, Texas was convicted Sept. 23, 2010 after a three-day jury trial. He was charged with three counts of sex trafficking, one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens and six counts of harboring aliens. During his September 2010 trial, the jury heard testimony that underage illegal aliens were being forced to work and being prostituted at the El Paraiso Bar in Mission, Texas. Ultimately, agents rescued three girls, ages 14, 15 and 17, working at the bar and being prostituted by Garcia-Gonzalez, the bar's owner. The jury learned that the three minors had been living with their family in Honduras when they were promised a job working at a restaurant making $700 a week in the United States. In court, the girls testified that the defendant spoke to their mother on the phone to make the arrangements. The girls were illegally smuggled into the United States expecting jobs. Instead, they worked at Garcia-Gonzalez' bar making only $120 a week which was deducted from the $4,500 fees they each “owed” Garcia-Gonzalez for being smuggled into the country. Garcia-Gonzalez told the girls that they could make $3 for every beer that a customer bought them and that they could keep any money they made having sex with customers, minus $50 they would have to pay him. The girls began working by selling and drinking beer with the customers. However, they soon realized they were not making any money because Garcia-Gonzalez never paid them. Needing money, the girls turned to the only other option Garcia-Gonzalez had given them - prostitution. Garcia-Gonzalez was charged along with several other co-defendants and who were also sentenced on Tuesday. Cesar Enrique Sarmiento-Mendoza, 33, of Honduras, worked at the bar and was left in charge of the bar when Garcia-Gonzalez was not there. Jenny Beatris Parada-Ponce, 27, of El Salvador, who was a prostitute herself, explained to the girls about prostitution among other things. Sarmeinto-Mendoza and Parada-Ponce each pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking prior to Garcia-Gonzalez's trial. Judge Crane sentenced Sarmiento-Mendoza to seven years of imprisonment; Parada-Ponce was sentenced to six years. Two others were also charged as a result of this ICE HSI investigation. Elizabeth Mendez-Vasquez, 23, of Mexico, and Maria Luisa Vasquez-Garcia, 21, of Mexico, were also charged and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor aliens on Aug. 27, 2010. Mendez-Vasquez was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment
Spring Street, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, United States
Prontiss Houseworth, 18, of Conyers, Georgia was arrrested Friday August 26, 2011 at the Knights Inn on Spring Street in Nashville, TN and charged with four counts of trafficking for sexual servitude, one count of promoting prostitution and a weapon charge for allegedly carrying brass knuckles. Police found four young women — two 18-year-olds, a 23-year-old and a 24-year-old — with Houseworth but consider them victims in Houseworth’s alleged crimes. According to police, the man forced the women to travel with him from Atlanta to Nashville where an undercover officer, responding to the online ad, met two of the women at the motel and made a deal to have sex with them for $180 plus a $20 tip. One of the alleged victims told police Houseworth threatened to kill the women and their families if the women didn’t cooperate with him, calling them “slaves” and saying “the only way that they could leave was in a body bag,” according to a police affidavit. One of the women also allegedly told police Houseworth punched her in the head and duct-taped her hands together and her mouth shut.
San Mateo County, United States
The couple was charged with child sex trafficking after officers discovered them at the Travelodge on Airport Boulevard in August with three teenage girls who said they were being held by force as prostitutes, according to police.
Norwalk, Connecticut, USA, United States
Harry Franklin, also known as “Streets” and “Uncle Stacks,” 27, of the Bronx, N.Y., pleaded guilty on October 26, 2011 before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport, CT to one count of transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The charge stems from Franklin’s involvement in an interstate prostitution enterprise that included the sex trafficking of two minor victims. According to court documents and statements made in court, Franklin facilitated the transportation of a woman and also a girl, who was 14-years-old at the time, from New York to Connecticut so that they could work in a prostitution business that Theodore Briggs was running out of an apartment in Norwalk, Conn. In pleading guilty, Franklin admitted that, in November and December 2010, he and others transported the woman from Connecticut to New York to engage in prostitution. He also admitted that he facilitated the transportation of the minor victim across state lines to engage in commercial sex acts. On October 25, 2011, Theodore Briggs, also known as “PeeJaye,” pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of an individual under the age of 18 with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Pocatello, Idaho, USA, United States
James Russell Ashley, 46, of Augusta, Georgia, and Wayne Allen Ginnis, 28, of Seattle, Washington, were indicted August 24, 2011 by a federal grand jury in Pocatello, Idaho, for transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to have sexual activity with the minor, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Ashley was arraigned August 24, 2011 in United States District Court in Pocatello. He entered a not guilty plea to the indictment. The case is set for trial on October 18, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge. As of August 2011, Ginnis was in state custody in Texas and had not yet appeared on the indictment. 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.
Tampa, Florida, USA, United States
The cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The ICE investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com. The Innocence Lost national initiative of the FBI addresses domestic child prostitution through 39 task forces and working groups around the nation. To date, the 39 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered 1,250 children. Both cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel Moore Lee for the Middle District of Florida.
Kingstong, Jamaica. Latin Movement Nightclub at Dunrobin Plaza, St Andrew., Jamaica
Hermalinda Parker, Anthony Parker, and their daughter Liz Scantleburry. Recruited young women from Panama, the Dominican Republic and Guyana to work in her nightclub. Among those recruited was a 16-year-old. Forced the women into prostitution, denied them their money and restricted their movement.
Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C, United States
Investigation by (ICE) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Convicted of conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation of a minor for prostitution. He faced a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, United States
According to the facts filed with the court at the time of the plea, Jane Doe met Maurice Alexander and Latoshia Norris in the Minneapolis area around May 2010. Doe told them that she was 17 years old, when she was actually 16 years old. Alexander invited Doe to live with them after she was abandoned on the street by a third party. Alexander and Norris bought food and clothing for her and quickly trained her to work as a prostitute. Alexander also gave her marijuana and alcohol. Doe told investigators that Alexander was her pimp, who kept the proceeds of the commercial sex. Alexander also drove Doe and Norris to other cities, including Des Moines, Indianapolis and the Kansas City area for commercial sex after he and Norris posted her advertisement on Backpage.com. Doe eventually left Alexander and Norris and moved to St. Louis without them. Prior to moving she left a letter for them revealing her true age of 16. Alexander continued to travel the circuit with Norris, eventually returning to St. Louis. Sometime between August and September 2010, Doe met Alexander and Norris in St. Louis and they all shared alcohol and marijuana. The trio decided to post advertisements in Indianapolis for Norris and Doe to solicit for commercial sex. Alexander drove the females to an Indiana hotel, but they did not meet any potential customers, so he drove Doe back to St. Louis and they parted ways again.
Manila, Philippines
Undercover investigations were conducted. The International Justice Mission (IJM) assisted the National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) in rescuing four trafficked minors. The suspected traffickers were arrested during the Rescue Operation of IJM and NBI. As of 10/25/2011, IJM Lawyers are developing a legal case against the suspected traffickers. Further government investigations were done and the authorities issued a petition to permanently close the bar.
minneapolis, United States
MAURICE DONTAE ALEXANDER - Male - 24 And LATOSHIA NORRIS - Female. Both of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Maurice Alexander has been sentenced to 72 months in prison, followed by supervised release for life. His female associate is scheduled to be sentenced.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA, United States
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.
College Park, Georgia, USA, United States
On February 20, 2009, the Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation Task Force (“MATCH,”)established an undercover operation at a hotel in the Northern District of Georgia, for the purpose of rescuing minors being caused to engage in prostitution. An undercover task force officer made a date for sex with a girl based upon her advertisement found in the erotic services section of Craigslist. The girl, advertised as “Mya” and 19, who appeared naked in the advertisement, looked underage. Upon arriving at the hotel, “Mya” met with the undercover agent, made an offer of prostitution services, and was arrested. Investigators subsequently identified “Mya” as a 16-year-old child. The advertisement of “Mya” had been placed on the Internet website by another individual at the direction of Pressley. Pressleyknew that “Mya” was a minor, having known the child since she was 15 years old. In September 2008, Atlanta Police were called to Grady Hospital regarding a 17-year-old female who had come to the hospital for treatment. Investigation into the erotic services section of Craigslist.com revealed that beginning in April 2009, a photograph of this minor was located posting sexual services in Atlanta by Pressley. At the time of the postings, the girl was 17 years old.
San Diego, California, USA, United States
Hamilton was sentenced August 22, 2011 in federal court in San Diego by the Honorable William Q. Hayes to serve 141 months in custody and 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison based on Hamilton’s conviction for one count of sex trafficking of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591. Hamilton entered his guilty plea on November 9, 2010.
Sapporo, Japan, Japan
The victim is a 16-year-old girl whose mother was selling her into prostitution. Her mother had been selling her since she was in the sixth grade, and the victim gave all her earnings (about 10,000 yen per client) to her mother. The victim’s mother used the money to purchase drugs, and the victim also began using drugs, allegedly at her mother’s instigation. The victim used a cell phone dating service to contact clients. When the victim’s mother was arrested for the use of illegal stimulants, the victim was taken into a child consultation center. The center failed to identify that the victim was being forced into prostitution, and she was released from the center in November of 2010. Later investigations reveal that after her release, the girl returned to live with her mother, who continued selling her as a prostitute. The victim was arrested on August 17, 2011, for the use of illegal stimulants, and is now in a juvenile detention center. The arrest took place at the apartment where she lived with her mother and stepfather. Her stepfather has been indicted on drug charges, and her mother has been missing since July. The victim’s case was referred to a family court in August of 2011, and her trial is scheduled to start in late September.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, United States
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.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, United States
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.
Sacramento, CA, United States
Police investigated the hotel on a tip, interviewed the girls, then arrested the couple and put them into a San Mateo jail to await hearing.
Chicago, Illinois, United States
33 year old male, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sex trafficking a minor, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months. The trafficker convinced a 13 year old girl from Marion, Illinois to run away to Chicago with him. There the trafficker forced her to prostitute herself. He allowed his cousin to rape her. And with the help of two of his “associates” held the girl down and branded her stomach with a tattoo of his middle name. From Chicago she was trafficked to Memphis, Tennessee. There she was able to contact her mother and inform her she was being forced into prostitution. Her mother called Memphis police who arrested the trafficker and took the young girl to Juvenile Detention as a runaway. The FBI later took over the case. The girl also informed the FBI of another 14 year old girl who the trafficker forced into prostitution. The young girl helped her escape. However, the trafficker has not been charged with exploiting anyone else.
Juarez, Mexico, Mexico
During a raid conducted by the Mexican Police, more than 500 men, and 530 women, were detained on suspicion of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.
Hayward, California, USA, United States
Jerome Burns, convicted May 31, 2011. The 14 year old victim, Jane Doe, was previously enslaved by a child trafficker who sold her for sex in Hayward, San Jose and Salinas, CA. In December 2009, Jerome Burns approached the victim, who thought Burns was a john. Burns took Jane Doe and kept her in his hotel room, where he forced her to commit an act of prostitution for money and also had one of his friends use her services. Burns also forced the minor to orally copulate him twice and raped her twice as well. Burns also forced her to pose for provocative photos and posted them online on Craigslist and myredbook.com.
Forest Hill, Texas, United States
A male, 26, with previous misdemeanor convictions for burglary of a vehicle and drug possession A female, 19, sentenced to deferred-adjudication probation in a prostitution case The suspects, according to a Fort Worth Police Report, contacted the 17-year--old victim through mocospace.com and then forced her to participate in prostitution against her will. Primary Source(s): Internet--News Media (http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/02/28/2884606/3-arrested-in-human-trafficking.html) Secondary Source(s): Internet--News Media (http://www.examiner.com/human-trafficking-in-fort-worth/police-arrested-three-people-case-involving-human-trafficking)
Miami, Florida, USA, United States
Montavius Rakeem Postell, 20, and Boby Louis, 23, both of Orlando, are wanted in a case involving the abduction of a 15-year-old girl from the Universal Studios area in Orlando. Ten others (named below) were arrested in connection with this case. The girl was abducted, then forced into prostitution in Miami. The girl had run away from a group home with a friend and, after meeting some men on a bus, was soon transported to Miami-Dade and forced to work as a prostitute. The unidentified 15-year-old and a female friend of the same age escaped from a group home in Highlands County. The two ended up in Orlando and eventually at Universal Studio's CityWalk. On a bus ride back from the theme park's mall area, the girls met a couple of men and agreed to go home with them for a good time. Police say the girls drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and engaged in sex with the men. The good time turned terrifying, though. The girls were taken to an abandoned warehouse where six men raped one of the girls, while the other was raped by two men and then forced into prostitution in Miami. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the others arrested in connection with this case were: • Guytembert Garcon, 23, of Orlando, who is on probation for a 2006 conviction for lewd or lascivious battery on a person between 12 and 15 years old • Olgens Alcide, 22, of Orlando, who is on probation for a 2009 conviction for armed robbery • John Peter Henry, 27, of Miami, who was released from prison in 2009 after serving a 13-month sentence for selling cocaine. • Lachristophe (also spelled "Lachristoph") Smith, 29, of Orlando, who was released from prison in 2006 after serving about three years for burglary, grand theft, and selling marijuana. • Luc Louidor, 25, of Orlando. • Brothers Leo David, 30, and Rodney David, 26, both of Orlando • Shayne Parsons, 25, of Orlando. • Martha Wilson, 23, of Orlando, was arrested on a charge of interference with custody; investigators say she allowed some of the sexual activity to occur at her home. • Craig Golden, 26, of Orlando. All arrested persons/suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario Canada, including the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, Canada
In February and March 2011, undercover officers contacted 71 potential victims through sex ads and agreed to meet them at seedy local motels. Once there, investigators worked to learn more about them and find out why they were in the sex trade. “Six individuals came forward and we were able to rescue them from the life of human trafficking and set them on a way to getting back into society," said Peel Deputy Chief Dan McDonald.
Brooklyn, New York, United States
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."
Lamar Ave, Memphis, TN, United States
24yr. old step father pimping out his 14yr. old step daughter on major prostitution street for $45-$50. She had also reported that he had been molesting her and took her virginity in March.
Hartford, Connecticut, USA, United States
Jarell Sanderson, 31,of New Britain, CT forced two 14 year old girls to work as prostitutes. He pleaded guilty in January 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and two counts of sex trafficking of children. Sanderson's codefendant, Hassanah Delia, 24, of East Hartford pleaded guilty in December 2010 to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. The two girls, both 14, had run away from a state Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) shelter in 2009, according to information provided in a release by the U.S. Attorney's office. After running away from the shelter, the teens went to Sanderson and Delia for help, according to court documents. Sanderson and Delia used Internet ads to sell the girls for sex at hotels and motels in Hartford and East Hartford. Prosecutors said the teens resisted, but Sanderson threatened to kill them. According to prosecutors, Delia convinced the two girls to join the escort business she participated in by telling them that they would make money. Delia would receive phone calls for sex and send the girls, while Sanderson posted the internet ads on the website Cityvibe, using fake names for the teens, but real pictures of them. In court documents, the girls said they called Delia "Ma" and Sanderson "Pa". The pair would provide alcohol and marijuana for the girls before taking them to the hotels to perform sex acts, prosecutors said.
Fields Avenue, Balibago, Phillipines, Philippines
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.
Redtenbacherstr. 7 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
Name: Age: 27 - Female Titular head of the brothels was given three years in prison. Name: Age: 26 - Male manager - three years in prison Name: Age: 30 - Male two years and ten months - prison Name: Age: 27 - Male Suspended sentence Name: Age: 22 - Male Suspended Sentence Name: Age: 30 - Male Fined undisclosed amount Location: 4 clubs across Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Fellbach, Berlin A judge has jailed a group of men and women who ran a chain of brothels where more than 20 Romanian women provided ‘flat rate’ sex to customers in circumstances which prosecutors had described as gang-run forced labour. 20 girls have been trafficked from Romania to Germany. The youngest of them was 16 years old and she sometimes had to serve more than 50 clients per night. The were forced to work in brothels in Germany at two separate locations in Fellbach and Heidelberg. Women were forced to work up to 14 hours per day. Customers were offered ‘sex with all the women, as long as you want, as often as you want and how you want’ for a one-off payment of €70 or €100 a day. Over time the traffickers handed over the daily operations and sold the women to brothels in Heidelberg, Berlin-Schönefeld, Wuppertal, Kaiserslautern, Recklinghausen, Barsinghausen, Schifferstadt and Fellbach. For those women who wanted to flee, they were frequently threatened with violence, according to the indictment. 13 suspects were arrested, six more under arrest. The arrests of the originating mainly from Romania, 19 men and women are closely related to the currently in Stuttgart ongoing lawsuit against the operator of the brothel chain Amateur Club "- and was formerly owned by Marcus Eberhardt, the Pforzheim grown Prinz von Anhalt. Women were expected to bring her pimp each week 1000 €. If a John left dissatisfied, a fine of 500 euros was imposed on them. They said the men did not "committed" to enough cost is 50 €. "Of course knew many of the women that they would be working as prostitutes in Germany. But most of them had no idea what that would mean, "said Michael Spandau. The lawyer representing a 29-year-old Romanian woman as co-plaintiff, which will also testify as a witness - a very stressful situation for the women.
Minneapolis, MIN, United States
Mohamed Ahmed Amalle, from Twin Cities, MN was arrested on or about May 9, 2011 in connection with an alleged sex ring that prostituted underage girls. Mohamed Ahmed Amalle is the 30th defendant in a massive child-prostitution case. Authorities allege the Somali Mafia and Somali Outlaws gangs operated the ring out of the Twin Cities, MN, Nashville, TN, and Columbus, Ohio. A grand jury indictment alleges that in November 2006, when Mohamed Amalle was 18, he became part of an original group of men that began selling a girl younger than 13 for sex. The vicitm was identified in court documents as Jane Doe Two. The group allegedly called up customers and then dropped her off at apartment complexes in Minneapolis and St. Paul. About two-thirds of the 29 people charged so far are from Minnesota. The alleged recruitment of young girls by Minneapolis-based Somali gangs to work as prostitutes took place in Minnesota and many of the alleged sex acts were carried out at Minnesota homes and businesses, from a Blaine mall to a Brooklyn Center hotel. The victims, who authorities say were as young as 12, were allegedly transported to work in the sex trade in other states, including Tennessee and Ohio.
Kolkata, India, India
Investigators with International Justice Mission, a Washington-based aid group that fights human trafficking, had spotted “Chutki” (nickname for “little girl”), a young teen, while undercover looking for prostituted children. New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof accompanied the I.J.M. investigator (who wanted to remain anonymous for his own safety) into the alleys of the Sonagachi red-light district one evening, slipped into the brothel, and climbed to the third floor. And there were Chutki and three other girls in a room, with a pimp hovering over them. The girls were offered to the investigators who demurred but said they’d return.
La Noria Street, acapulco, mexico, Mexico
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.
Kansas City, MO, USA, United States
According to an affidavit that was filed in support of the original criminal complaint, an informant contacted law enforcement officers on March 28, 2011, to report a possible extortion attempt against him. The informant told police officers that he was contacted on Facebook by a female who claimed to be 17 years old, and began to chat online with her and exchanged telephone numbers. The informant and the minor female met at her house and had sexual intercourse, the affidavit says, and they agreed to meet again the next day. When the informant returned the next day and they began to have sexual intercourse, McKinney allegedly entered the room and confronted the informant. McKinney allegedly told the informant that the female was 16 years old, and that their sexual intercourse the previous day had been recorded. According to the affidavit, McKinney demanded that the informant pay him $400 so that he would not tell the authorities. They walked to an ATM together, the affidavit says, and the informant withdrew $100 and gave it to McKinney. They allegedly arranged to meet at a later date for the rest of the money. On April 7, 2011, the affidavit says, the informant agreed to meet with McKinney in order to exchange the money for the original video copy of the sexual encounter. The affidavit alleges that McKinney sent a text message to the informant, instructing him to put $500 in a sealed envelope and give the envelope to a security guard at Devry University. After the exchange occurred, the affidavit says, police officers saw McKinney approach the security desk and get the envelope containing the money from the security guard. McKinney was arrested. When investigators searched the minor’s cell phone, they found several images of child pornography depicting the minor, including sexually explicit photos of McKinney and the minor as well as sexually explicit photos of the informant and the minor.
Homewood, AL, United States
Soloman Manasseh Mustafa Age:37 Home Town: Stone Mountain Charged on May 18, 2011. charges of sex trafficking, kidnapping, transporting women across state lines for prostitution, and document servitude. Mustafa faces additional charges associated with receiving child pornography and the coercion or enticement of a minor for sex. Kalandra Annette Wallace Age: 24 Hometown: Jonesboro charges of sex trafficking, kidnapping, transporting women across state lines for prostitution, and document servitude The indictment accuses Mustafa and Wallace of luring young women via dating advertisements on Craigslist, Backpage and other Internet websites, then kidnapping and often physically assaulting or raping them, and locking them in hotel rooms or apartments where they forced them to engage in prostitution. At least two women were bound with duct tape, secured in a closet and then taken to Homewood, Ala. where they were forced to have sex with male customers, according to the indictment. Others were forced to inhale what they believed to be cocaine. Two other victims were handcuffed to a bed to prevent them from fleeing, the indictment stated. Five victims in all. Mustafa is also accused of attempting to entice a 14-year-old girl via text messaging into sending photos of herself to him and then becoming his sex slave, according to the indictment The case spread across metro Atlanta jurisdictions and involved the Atlanta, Gwinnett, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Holly Springs, DeKalb and Clayton police departments as well as the Homewood, Ala., police.
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Andrew Fakhoury, 23, of Yonkers, N.Y. Prosecutors said that Fakhoury began forcing young women into prostitution in New York before moving his operation to Rhode Island in October of 2008 to take advantage of a loophole in state law that allowed indoor prostitution, until it was banned in 2009. Fakhoury eventually moved into an apartment in Providence’s Elmhurst section with one of those women and advertised her on Craigslist. So far, four victims have come to light; the youngest was 16 years old, and the oldest was 19. Two of the victims were from Yonkers, one was from upstate, and the fourth was from out of state. All were described as middle class kids with good grades – attractive yet emotionally vulnerable. One victim was promised a job as a waitress in Rhode Island on the beach. Using drugs and abusing the women, Fakhoury and his alleged cohort, Joseph Defeis, celebrated the thug life in several music videos posted on YouTube last year. Fakhoury called himself “Kash” and Defeis was “Jemz,” rapping in videos of them cruising around Providence in a black SUV, flashing fistfuls of $100 bills, and bragging that they were gangsters. With sunglasses perched on his nose and a large crucifix swinging from his neck, Fakhoury bragged: “Tell my lawyer, just eat the case.” A woman gyrated around a stripper pole in another video, as Fakhoury and Defeis rapped: “I keep a couple hos from around my way.” Providence police said the men beat the girls, kept close tabs on their cell phone calls, and treated them like merchandise.
Polk County, Florida, USA, United States
After negotiating with detectives online, or by phone, the suspects traveled to an undisclosed location in Polk County where they offered detectives sex acts ranging from oral sex to intercourse in exchange for cash. The majority of the ads were found on backpage.com.but the ads used by the suspects also appeared on www.Bootytag.com, www.Findhotescorts.com, www.Sipsap.com, and others. Detectives said they were shocked when among those arrested was a 15-year-old. The 15 year old arrived at the undercover location after being contacted by undercover detectives via Findhotescorts.com. Her two-month old baby and alleged pimp remained in the vehicle. Investigation revealed she was 15 years old and a runaway from Chicago, IL. The 15 year old’s alleged pimp, Jonathan Padilla, was identified as a criminal gang member upon his arrest by Gang Unit Detectives and is alleged by a witness to be associated with the Maniac Campbell Boys criminal gang in Chicago.
Elmhurst Providence, RI, United States
Within a few days, Sgt. Patrick McNulty, Detectives Peter Conley and Richard Ruggiero found her inside a second-floor apartment at 123 Pinehurst Ave., near Providence College. They arranged for her to meet an undercover detective on the pretense of a “date" from backpage.com. When she offered to perform sex acts for $150 or $250, the police took her into custody. Fakhoury, who was in the next bedroom, and Defeis were also arrested, because the police found about a pound of marijuana and packaging material inside the apartment, Correia said. Police say two New York men enslaved teenagers as young as 16 in Rhode Island and forced them into prostitution. Fakhoury was given 10 years of prison time and 10 years probation for
Kansas City, MO (North) USA, United States
Please also see related posts: http://www.slaverymap.org/index.html?show=257 and http://www.slaverymap.org/index.html?show=479 At approximately 9:33 a.m. on March 5, 2009, Steven C. Albers, 42, of Kansas City-North, responded via e-mail to an ad that advertised “little girls available.” The ad’s content clearly advertised the children for sex. Albers requested a lunch hour meeting so that he would have time to drive from his office near the Country Club Plaza. The undercover officer responded that he had an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl available for sex. In a follow-up e-mail, Albers said he wanted to spend an hour with an 11-year-old girl at a cost of $100. In an e-mail later that morning, Albers said he wanted to spend half an hour with the 11-year-old girl but would pay an extra $20 to go “bareback,” referring to sexual intercourse without a condom, for a total price of $80. When Albers arrived at the undercover house for the meeting at approximately noon, he provided the cash to the undercover officer and the arrest team came out from the bedroom. Albers took off running out the front door. The arrest team chased him out the front door and caught him in the neighbor’s front yard, placing him under arrest at that time. Albers also admitted that he had responded earlier to the undercover advertisements that were part of Operation Guardian Angel on three separate occasions in January and February, in which he also tried to arrange a meeting to pay for sexual activity with the child being sold as a prostitute by her pimp.
St. Albans, Queens, New York, USA, United States
William Johnson, age 50, also known as “Dollar Bill”, pleaded guilty April 14, 2011 to sex trafficking of a minor between August 2010 and September 2010. Defendant admitted to harboring a 15-year-old girl in his home in St. Albans, Queens, between August and September 2010, and having the victim work for him as a prostitute. As alleged in the government’s pleadings, the defendant generated customers for his prostitution business by posting advertisements listed under “erotic services” or “escort services” on Internet websites. The advertisements included photographs of scantily clad women or girls in suggestive poses. The defendant also took live videos of the women and girls engaging in pole-dancing in his St. Albans residence, which could then be accessed online for a fee paid by customers.
Kansas City, Kansas, United States
Don L. Elbert III forced three underage sisters into prostitution, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, 15 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $524,571 in restitution.
Detroit Michigan, United States
Anderson Byron Walker, Jeremiah Collins, Andy Wyzell, McArthur Harris abducted a 15-year-old female from Howell, Michigan, and transported her to Atlanta, Georgia. Walker sexually assaulted the victim and forced her into prostitution. Walker was charged with one count of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Walker was sentenced over 6 years in prison. Walker is also serving two 7-year terms and six 20-year terms in Oklahoma State prison on eight counts to include: Assault; Battery; Kidnapping; and Rape.
Whiting, Indiana, United States
They recovered more than $2,700 in cash, cameras, a laptop and computer as well as small amounts of crack cocaine and heroin. At the time of his arrest, Bonaparte was out on bond from a June 24th charge of soliciting for a prostitute. On that occasion, Bonaparte tried to recruit an undercover officer on Mannheim Rd. to work for him as a prostitute. Bonaparte has been arrested fifty-five times previously, and has nine convictions for offenses including pimping, manufacture and delivery of cocaine, possession of a stolen vehicle, and theft. The Cook County Sheriff’ Police Vice Unit arrested Bonaparte after responding to a suspicious ad posted on the Escorts section of the website Backpage.com. The ad contained solicitations such as “Sexy Crystal is here to please and pamper you”, “Call me before 1 a.m. and get your discount”, and “Girlfriend experience”. Bonaparte forced three women to prostitute themselves for his profit. He allegedly took sexually provocative photos of the women and posted the pictures in internet ads for escort services.
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Michael Simmons, Stephanie Gease, and Deshonqua Strait were all convicted in relation to a case of child prostitution. Simmons was found guilty of transporting a child from PA to CA and sentenced to 17.5 years. Gease, was sentenced to 8 months for purchasing a bus ticket and escorting the child to the bus station. Strait was sentenced to 12 months for training and supervising the child.
Chillicothe, Missouri, USA, United States
On July 16, 2009, Randal G. Jennings, 43, of Chillicothe, MO pleaded guilty to the commercial sex trafficking of children. Jennings admitted that he attempted to recruit five child victims to work for him as prostitutes. After recruiting the girls to motel rooms, he had the children pose for sexually explicit photos, which he used to advertise the children for sexual services on Internet Web sites. Jennings pimped out the girls for years, including one victim who was prostituted from the ages of 14 to 17. Jennings considered himself a "nice pimp," according to the Star. Addressing the judge, Jennings said he thought the girls were college-age students. He also said he placed their ads on Craigslist and another Internet site so they could meet clients in nice hotels, not on the rough streets. He also said prosecutors had overcharged his case. "I did research on human sex trafficking, and this doesn't fit," Jennings said. "What I did barely qualifies for it." Jennings was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010, to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.
Washington D.C., United States
Carlos Curtis and associates and pimps Michael Goodwin, and Janet Rodriguez. Curtis was indicted on charges of transporting minors from New York and Maryland to engage in prostitution, as well as sex trafficking of children, transportation of minors, transportation for illegal sexual activity, and materials involving the sexual exploitation of children. Michael Goodwin pleaded guilty for two counts of Pandering. Janet Rodriguez pleaded guilty for one count of pandering. Curtis was sentenced to life imprisonment. Goodwin was sentenced to 36 months. Rodriguez was sentenced to 36 months.
Washington D.C., United States
Gary Gates and Tamisha Hayward operated an online escort/prostitution business. Clients contacted a telephone number posted on the web to set up dates. Hayward reserved hotel rooms for the girls using Priceline.com. Gates and Hayward were indicted on 13 counts of sex trafficking of children; 11 counts coercion and enticement; 5 counts of transportation of minors; and two counts of transportation for illegal sexual activity. Hayward was also charged with one count of conspiracy. Gates was sentenced to over 14 years and Hayward to over 8 years.
Atlanta Georgia, United States
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.
Miami Florida, United States
Demond Levail Osley transported a 17 year old from Florida and forced her into prostitution. He was convicted of one count of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of transportation of an individual for prostitution, one count of coercion and enticement of an individual to engage in sexual activity; and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to 30 years and 5 months.
Chicago Illinois, United States
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.
Sacramento California, United States
Will Moss forced minors into prostitution, transported them across state lines and controlled them through force and intimidation. Moss repeatedly assaulted and raped them. Moss was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and 10 years of supervision, when and if he is released he must register as a sex offender.
Oklahoma City Oklahoma, United States
Stormy Nights was a large-scale child prostitution investigation focused on the interstate prostitution of children at truck stops and call services nationwide. These individuals were charged with transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; aiding and abetting; transportation of person under age of 18 with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on of any unlawful activity; sex trafficking of children; coercion of a person under age of 18 to engage in sexual act; felon in possession of a firearm; interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering; and money laundering. Sentences for these individuals ranged in length up to 17.5 years.
Washington D.C., United States
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.
San Francisco, California, United States
Theodore Love was arrested on state charges for promoting prostitution. The investigation found six females, two of which were juveniles ages 13 and 17. Love transported the women and children to Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, California, and forced them to work as prostitutes. Love advertised his escort company “The Love Zone” in the Spectator magazine and on the Internet at Eros Guide. Love was indicted federally, charged with sex trafficking of children; and transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Love pled guilty and was sentenced to over 7 years in prison.
Washington, D.C, United States
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. Agents in Washington, D.C., helped in the recovery of a juvenile victim.
Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
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.
Detroit Michigan, United States
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.
Minneapolis Minnesota, United States
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.
Los Angeles California, United States
Juan Rico Doss was indicted for one count of conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking of children, three counts of transportation of minors for prostitution, and two counts of criminal forfeiture. He was sentenced to life in prison. Ford testified against Doss and was sentenced to 15 months
Atlanta Georgia, United States
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.
Kansas City, Missouri, USA, United States
From 2002 to 2008 (exact dates unknown) Michael L. Buck “recruited, harbored, transported, provided and obtained females to engage in commercial sex acts through threats of serious harm, physical restraint and force.” On May 12, 2010, Buck pleaded guilty to trafficking women into involuntary servitude and coerced commercial sex. Buck admitted he obtained females to engage in commercial sex acts, and that he caused them to engage in commercial sex acts through threats of serious harm, physical restraint, and force. Buck utilized a phone service, Quest, to advertise the women for sexual acts in Kansas City, Mo., and in Independence, Mo., and obtained customers from both Missouri and Kansas. He sold the women in such locations as apartments, houses, motels and strip clubs. According to court documents, Buck would often beat, burn, choke, cut and tie up his female victims if they refused to engage in prostitution
Columbia, Missouri, USA, United States
Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that Gathings, pleaded guilty in federal court on October 12, 2011 to selling a child victim into prostitution. Gathings admitted that in 2009 he recruited a homeless minor to engage in prostitution for his financial benefit. Gathings provided housing for the minor victim, but took her earnings after requiring that she sell herself for sex. After discharging a sawed-off shotgun in his front yard, Gathings was incarcerated in state custody. During this time of incarceration, he continued to sell the minor victim through the assistance of an organized prostitution ring called Aleesha Angels. Gathings had the minor victim provide him with her prostitution earnings to assist him with bond and later to provide him with funding for his prisoner’s account. Under the terms of the October 12, 2011 plea agreement, Gathings is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office. Brandy Key, also known as Brandy Wheeler, 39, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty on October 19, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to the charge contained in a March 1, 2011, federal indictment. By pleading guilty, Key admitted that she operated a prostitution ring that assisted and profited from the coerced sex trafficking of a child. Key handled the minor victim while Gathings was in custody and sold her for sex on his behalf. This included, but was not limited to, scheduling her appointments with customers and advertising her for sex acts on the Internet. Under the terms of today’s binding plea agreement, Key is subject to a minimum sentence of three years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing for Key will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
Alameda, California, United States
Turner's first victim escaped and fled to Oakland police. It is presumed this led to the discovery of the second victim.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, United States
Trafficker convicted January 2010 of 11 felonies including sexual assault and human trafficking. First conviction under Wisconsin's human trafficking law.
Dushanbe, Tajikistan (trafficked to Dubai and Istanbul also)., Tajikistan
Djakhon Khilalova was arrested in April. Khilalova, the teenager's adopted mother, was convicted of nine criminal charges. They included human trafficking, forcing a person into prostitution and trafficking in minors. She was handed a 14-year prison sentence for forcing her adopted daughter into prostitution.
Wichita, Kansas, USA, United States
Brandon W. Dennis, 25, Wichita, is charged with two counts of attempting to recruit teenagers to perform commercial sex acts. In one count, the victim is identified as “Jane Doe,” a 17-year-old Wichita girl. In the other case, the victim is identified as “Rissa,” a name used by a detective with the Wichita Police Department who was working undercover. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita alleges that the 17-year-old victim met Dennis in the summer of 2011 at a party. She told him her age and they became friends on Facebook. On Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, 2011, she received several messages on Facebook from Dennis. He told her she could make up to $800 a day working as a prostitute. One message from Dennis read: “become a hoe n get paid n get rich.” When she declined his offer, he threatened her and sent her a message that said: “u jus nothing but a dog that needs the rite trainin n life.”
San Diego, California, USA, United States
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”.
crown heights, brooklyn, United States
"The turning point for the victim came as she was studying criminal justice at John Jay College. Her tormentors were threatening to recruit one of her close family members and she could not let that happen, so she went to her professor, Jeff Kern, a former prosecutor. He carefully suggested that she speak to the authorities; he knew she was reluctant out of fear for her safety and that of her family." "Mr. Kern said he spoke several times on his own to the police and the district attorney’s office and helped her understand the criminal justice system to make her feel more comfortable to approach the authorities herself." sources: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/sources-sex-trafficking-ring-broken-up-in-brooklyn-after-sex-slave-tips-off-authorities/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/woman-in-brooklyn-rape-case-confided-in-professor.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=john%20jay%20prostitution&st=cse
Laurel, MD, United States
The 12-year old victim was reported as missing and possibly involved in sex exploitation on May 25th, 2010. Trafficker picked up the victim in Washington, DC in an area known for prostitution on Friday evening and paid for sexual services performed in the back seat of his car. He then recruited her to work for him and took her to Atlantic City, NJ over the weekend. Under his direction, men paid to have sex with her over. The money was collected and held by the Trafficker. She told him that she wanted to return home but was held against her will. She feared him because of his size and age. He purchased a motel room for her in Anne Arundel County, MD on Monday morning, and told the child he would be back later to have sex with her. The child called a relative from the hotel room. It was investigated, and the girl was recovered and taken into custody.
missoula, montana, United States
Richard Carpita, 30, male Anthony J. Brazington, 21, male. The men used Craigslist to solicit prostitution of 5 girls age 16-18 for money and drugs.
Roselle ave, hawthorn, ca, United States
A 14 year old girl was reported missing. Meanwhile, Police were investing Braggs for prior suspicion of kidnapping and pimping. The girl missing after liberation told authorities, she was "kid napped while riding a bus, sexually assulted and forced to take hig doses of GHB and ecstasy" She also was tattooed on her chest with the words "King Snipe's (tafficker's street name) Bitch". The victim liberated also told authorities, she witnessed, "Other women forced to go out into the street at night only to come back with a fixed amount of money. If the women did not bring enough money back were beaten" 14 year old ran away due to threats from Bragg to "harm her family if she did not return"
Oakland, CA, United States
After one of the girls escaped bondage, she sought police help. Investigators from the Oakland Police Dept. pursued Turner and later arrested him. Turner was tried in the Alameda County Superior Court, before Judge Cecilia Castellanos on June 25, 2010. After a single day of deliberation, the jurors found Turner guilty of two counts of kidnapping for financial gain from the female body, two counts of forcible rape and one count each of forcible oral copulation, pandering and human trafficking.
Rosso, Mauritania, Africa, Mauritania
Mauritania intercepted 200 young girls from Senegal and suspects of their traffickers in a weekend operation against organized crimes, police reported on Sunday. Police held surprise raid between Saturday night and early Sunday, police said, without disclosing the number of traffickers and their identities.
Sacramento, CA, United States
Reginald Wilson, 23, of Sacramento, was sentenced on July 26, 2010 by United States District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr., to seven and a half years in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release for sex trafficking of minors. Wilson pleaded guilty September 8, 2009. According to court documents, in December 2007 and January of 2008, Wilson recruited two girls, one 15 and one 16 years old, and caused them to engage in prostitution. ______________________________ PRIMARY SOURCE(S): FBI Sacramento - http://sacramento.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/sc072610a.htm SECONDARY SOURCE(S): Department of Justice - http://www.justice.gov/usao/cae/press_releases/docs/2010/08-12-10Sacramento%20PSC%20press%20release.pdf Sacramento Today - http://www.sacramentotoday.net/news/templates/community.asp?articleid=1210&zoneid=1 Sacramento Area Local News - http://cbs13.com/local/Trafficking.Craisglist.Court.2.690752.html Sacramento Bee - http://blogs.sacbee.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=36&search=Reginald+Wilson+Jr.+of+Sacramento&keywords=Reginald+Wilson+Jr.+of+Sacramento&aff=5
Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa
Female acquaintance sold her to 2 German male pimps. This female acquaintance told the victim that there was an opportunity to make quick money in Mossell Bay - a 6 hour ride from Cape Town. This acquaintance told the victim that she would work as a prostitute for the 2 German pimps, have her own apartment and be able to come and go as she pleased. The trafficker sold the victim to the German pimps for $65.00.
San Diego, California, United States
Male, age 22 was sentenced to serve 180 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison. Male, age 24 was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison. Male, age 21 was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison. According to evidence presented at trial, the men picked up the 14-year-old female victim from a restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego. They drove her to a motel in Oceanside, where they forced her to pose for sexually explicit photographs so that they could solicit “johns” on the Internet to engage in commercial sex acts with the child.
Staten Island, New York, United States
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Authorities have charged 14 reputed members and associates of the Gambino crime family -- including nine Staten Islanders -- on counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to murder and racketeering. OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, EISLER, MAIURRO, and PORCELLI are charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor. From 2008 to 2009, the defendants operated a prostitution business where young women and girls—including an underage girl who was 15 years old at the time—were exploited and sold for sex. The defendants first recruited various young women and girls—ages 15 through 19—to work as prostitutes. The defendants then advertised the prostitution business on Craigslist and other websites. The defendants drove the women to appointments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Staten Island to have sex with clients. The defendants then took approximately 50 percent of the money paid to the young women. The defendants also made the women available for sex to gamblers at a weekly, high-stakes poker games that OREFICE and his crew ran
Bushwick and Brownsville, Brooklyn NY, United States
Eight people have been indicted on charges that include sex trafficking or promoting prostitution as a result of the investigation. The pimps sometimes started off as boyfriends or had acquaintances recruit friends and schoolmates from local high schools and middle schools, luring girls with promises of cash and “a generous lifestyle,” he added. Instead, the men used threats and violence to force the women to meet quotas of $500 a day or more, meeting clients at sex parties or through the “adult services” categories of Craigslist and other Web sites.
Fayetteville, AR, United States
James B. Mitchell, 66 of Fayetteville and Jason M.Fedele, 38, and his wife Tiffney Fedele, 38, of PA have been aressted and charged with running a prostitution ring that spanned AR and MO. and included at leat one under age victim.
Portland, Oregon, United States
"Jefferson Davis, 22, has been indicted by a federal grand jury following his arrest in Portland on August 12. The indictment alleges that Davis transported the girl across four states as he forced her to work as a prostitute. Davis is alleged to have struck, beaten, and otherwise physically assaulted the minor whenever she refused to work as a prostitute…. Davis obtained the minor’s address and told her that, ‘if she went to the police or talked about her trafficking, he would kill her family,’” according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa
Trafficker was the boyfirned of the victim's mother. They all lived in Namibia. The boyfriend promised to talk the 12 year old to Cape Town and find her work. When they got there, he began prostituting her.
Jacksonville, Florida, United States
"JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – Six arrests were made due to crimes discovered during a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office targeting child prostitution, the Department of Justice announced on Monday. Ian Sean Gordon, 29, of Tallahassee, was charged with sex trafficking of a minor. Gordon is accused of enticing the minor and of forcing her to engage in commercial sex acts. If convicted, Gordon faces a sentence ranging from 15 years in prison to life behind bars. Melvin Eugene Friedman, 45, of Jacksonville, was indicted for sex trafficking of a minor, conspiracy to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base, aiding and abetting in the possession of cocaine base, using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Friedman allegedly enticed a minor while knowing that she would be forced to engage in prostitution. The defendant is also a cocaine dealer and uses his own residence for distributing narcotics. Friedman was previously convicted of manslaughter, sale or delivery of cocaine, and possession of burglary tools. He faces a minimum sentence of20 years and a maximum penalty of two consecutive life sentences plus 70 years. Phillip Anthony Aiken, 28, Oris Alexander English, 45, and Alfredo Martinez Riquene, 42, all from Jacksonville, were charged with sex trafficking of a minor. They allegedly obtained a minor, knowing that the child would be used in prostitution acts. If convicted, each defendant faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years and a maximum term of life imprisonment. Antonio D. Ford, 28, of Jacksonville, was charged with misprision of a felony. The indictment charges that Ford knew about the sex trafficking of a minor and failed to notify federal authorities." -BNO News http://wireupdate.com/wires/8687/jacksonville-child-prostitution-investigation-results-in-six-arrests/
Millersville, MD, United States
Army Spc. Craig Allen Corey II, Robert Harris II, Jacob Tyler and Richard Johnson II of Chillicothe, OH ran a drug and prostitution ring from an apartment owned by Corey in Millersville, Md. They recruited 12 girls (willing and unwilling) from Chillicothe, OH(including a 16 year old); Virginia, and one woman from Watertown, NY. Their operation used online venues like Craigslist to market the girls. Corey and the others controlled the girls through beatings, threats, and planned drug addictions (they gave the girls free drugs until the girls became addicted and then began to charge for each “fix” from daily earnings). Tyler and Harris both had guns that were used to threaten the girls. The situation was brought to light when one of the girls (age 19) called her parents saying that her car had been disabled. They contacted local authorities. This in combination with suspicious ads on Craiglist, which were discovered by local authorities, led to further investigation of the Millersville apartment.
Los Angeles, United States
Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, stated: “The FBI worked with the Los Angeles Police Department and San Diego Sheriff’s Department to build a successful case that ended Lawson’s abusive activity and resulted in today’s guilty plea. Agents will continue to collaborate with local law enforcement to investigate those who victimize children in this country by trafficking minors interstate and forcing them into lives of prostitution in order to enrich themselves.” The case against Lawson was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department and the San Diego Sheriff's Department. The FBI investigation was conducted by the Southern Central California Innocence Lost Task Force (SOCAIL). The mission of the SOCAIL Task Force is to provide a rapid and effective investigative response to federal crimes involving child prostitution, reduce the vulnerability of children to acts of sexual exploitation, and strengthen law enforcement capabilities through training programs and investigative assistance. The SOCAIL Task Force in Orange County is made up of agents and officers from the FBI, the California Department of Justice and the Anaheim Police Department.
Williamsburg, IA, United States
Demont Bowie of Wellman, IA was sentenced to 35 years in prison for kidnapping a 13-year-old Minneapolis girl and holding her in the basement of a house in Williamsburg, IA. He forced her to have sex with his friends and with other men as part of a prostitution ring that his father, Robert Sallis, operated. Bowie threatened that he would kill the girl and her family if she did not comply.
Daraga, Albay, Phillipines, Philippines
The owner and the cashier of a bar in Daraga, Albay, Phillipines forced 4 girls between the ages of 14-16 years old to work in the bar as "guest relations officers" All four girls had been trafficked from the near by town of Manilla. A fifth girl who had been there had escaped and made her way back to Manilla where she reported the bar to authorities.
Mississauga, Canada, Canada
Imani Nakpangi, 25, was convicted to trafficking two young girls (14 and 15 years of age) for sex at a number of Mississauga hotels. This was a lucrative business for him. In 2 years it is estimated by the courts that he earned over $400,000 from the girls. He kept the girls working by threats and intimidation. He also told the girls that they owed him over $100,000. One of the girls escaped and went to the police after being robbed at gunpoint by a client. He was arrested after a sting operation by the local law enforcement.
Sacramento, CA, United States
According to court documents filed in the case, on January 11, 2008, police received a report of a 15-year-old runaway from Montana. The police learned that the girl was being offered as a prostitute on Craigslist, and an undercover police officer made a “date” to meet her. The officer met her in a Sacramento motel room, confirmed that she was in fact the 15-year-old runaway, and took her into custody. The girl told police that she had run away from her home in Montana at West’s urging when she began talking to him online. West paid for a bus ticket for the girl to come to Sacramento from Montana, and she arrived on December 25, 2007. West met her at the bus station and took her to a female friend’s apartment where he had the woman post an ad on the online service RedBook offering the girl as a prostitute. The girl prostituted for West out of a Sacramento motel for two days.
Johannesburg, South Africa
Victim Alleges that she was held captive by a Nigeria Trafficking ring for over a year. Trafficker originally recruited four girls from Zimbabwe to work in a hotel. The youngest was 15 the oldest was 19. She claims when they reached the Zimbabwe/South Africa border, the girls were bought gifts and given drinks that were drugged. When they woke up they were in a back of a van and their trafficker told them they were in South Africa. They arrived at a flat in Johannesburg where they were sold to a Nigerian crime syndicate and forced into prostitution.
Broadway St. San Francisco, CA, United States
Strip clubs along Broadway are owned by organized crime and corruption runs rampant. Traffickers are owners and managers who employ underaged girls, encourage prostitution in private rooms and steal money as well as soliciting sex from the girls. Girls pay a fee to work in the clubs and often times managers will coerce young women into favors to pay for these astronomical fees.
Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa
The trafficker was the owner of a brothel in the city of Cape Town. Investigation revealed that a 17-year-old girl had been brought to the brothel to work from her home in Klerksdorp under false pretenses. She had been told that she would be working a job in Cape Town as a babysitter but when she arrived she found that she had been brought for very different reasons.
Seattle, United States
According to an article in The Seattle Times, on Thursday, April 1, 2010: "A Renton man [Deandre Gant, 21] accused of ordering a juvenile runaway to work as a prostitute has been charged with commercial sexual abuse of a minor." The article also explains that "Gant told a 15-year-old Issaquah girl that she had to perform sex acts so 'they' could have some money. The girl told police she has known Gant for about three years and had moved in with him after running away from home." The Seattle police investigating this incident reported that they had "found text messages from Gant on her cellphone, ordering her to keep working."
Lansing, Illinois, United States
The investigation began Friday when sheriff’s detectives responded to an ad on Backpage, a website similar to Craigslist for selling merchandise and seeking services. The ad promised sex for cash and provided a picture of a girl, police said. Through e-mails, the officers arranged to meet the girl at the Howard Johnson Hotel at 17301 S. Oak Ave. in Lansing. When the undercover officers arrived, they found Tyrelle Lockett standing in front of the hotel with the girl, police said. When the officer went into the designated hotel room and met the girl, there were obvious and visible signs she had been a victim of repeated acts of violence, Patterson said. After an agreement was reached to exchange sex for cash, the officer took the girl into custody. Nearby officers arrested Tyrelle Lockett, who was found in possession of nearly all of the girl’s personal items," Patterson said. Investigators learned he refused to allow her access any of her things unless she performed the acts he demanded, Patterson said.
Jamaica, New York, United States
Source: Queens DA Press Release 4/15/10... http://www.queensda.org/newpressreleases/2010/april/gaston_campbell_4_14_2010.pdf The District Attorney identified the defendant as Woodley Gaston, 24, of 118-08 Rockaway Boulevard in Queens. Gaston was arraigned today before Queens County Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter on an indictment charging him with sex trafficking, second- and third-degree promoting prostitution and second-degree assault. He is presently awaiting trial on another indictment charging him with sex trafficking, second- and third-degree promoting prostitution, third- degree rape, and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 25 years in prison on each indictment. He was ordered held without bail. The District Attorney further stated that a second man, Archie Campbell, 23, of 128-03 North Conduit, in Queens, has been charged in the same indictment with third-degree promoting prostitution for allegedly acting as a pimp for the same victim during a three month period between September and December 2007. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. He was also arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter and ordered held without bail.
Lehigh Acres, Florida, United States
"Human trafficking or slavery - it doesn't get more serious because the people who bring the slaves over know exactly what slaves are getting into. This is a high priority of our office, the Unites States, the Department of Justice and the FBI," said Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy. Domingo will be back in court next week for a bond hearing and officials we spoke to say more charges may be filed. Reported by Stacey Deffenbaugh stacey.deffenbaugh@abc-7.com
San Antonio, Texas, United States
The victim escaped from Campbell's home and told her story to investigators. More information is available on her escape and the case on: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Former_Spur_charged_in_sex_trafficking_case.html Below is the text of the article: http://media.mysanantonio.com/images/MarqueCallaway.jpg Courtesy photo Marques A. Callaway http://media.mysanantonio.com/images/JackZimmerle.jpg Courtesy photo Jack August Zimmerle Yahoo! Buzz RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | SAVE Recommend recommend 3 By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News Authorities have busted up a sex-trafficking ring accused of forcing a 14-year-old girl to have sex with men throughout San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Linked to the ring is former Spurs guard and four-time NBA All-Star Alvin Robertson. Seven people allegedly are tied to the ring, including an R&B performer and a man charged with bribing an official at Kelly USA, a business park at the former air base. Of the seven, Robertson — who played for the Spurs from 1984 to 1989 and was a one-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year — was the last to be arrested Friday, said Deputy Ino Badillo, a spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Robertson was arrested shortly after 4 p.m. in Bentonville, Ark., where he was to attend a basketball shooting clinic this weekend that featured him and former NBA player Ricky Pierce. Lt. Jon Simpson of the Bentonville Police Department told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Robertson appeared shocked when arrested. The girl, who's now back with her parents in San Antonio, was kidnapped in March 2009 and forced into prostitution after running away from home, officials said. She also was taken to Corpus Christi, where her captor allegedly forced her to dance at a topless club that now faces sanctions by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The girl escaped March 30, 2009, from Leslie Roy Campbell, 49, and reported him to Corpus Christi police, opening an investigation here that lasted three months and culminated in Friday's arrests by the Bexar County Human Trafficking Task Force, Badillo said. The task force works with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which investigates human trafficking of or by foreigners in the U.S., said Jerry Robinette, special agent in charge of ICE in San Antonio. Investigators found no unauthorized immigrants were involved, and the crimes appear to have occurred within Texas, resulting in state charges rather than federal. Robertson is charged with trafficking of persons under 18 for prostitution, sexual assault of a child and sexual performance of a child, all felonies. Badillo said Robertson is believed to have had sex with the girl, but also described Robertson as a “facilitator,” which means involved in forcing the girl into prostitution. Three alleged “johns” were charged in the case with sexual assault of a child: Murtuza K. Bhavnagerwala, 36, Behzad Mehrinfar, 25, and Jack A. Zimmerle, 40. Robertson's girlfriend, Racquel McIntosh, 41, was charged with sexual performance of a child and trafficking of persons under 18 for prostitution. Campbell was charged with sexual performance of a child, trafficking, sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping. Marques A. Callaway, 35, who performs “Southern R&B,” was charged with aggravated kidnapping. Zimmerle, Callaway and Mehrinfar were released Friday after posting $75,000 bail each. The others remained jailed Friday night, including Campbell, who's serving time in a Beeville prison on sexual assault of a child charges. Last year, the San Antonio Express-News reported the girl ran away from home and was kidnapped by Campbell. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault earlier this month in Nueces County, officials said. The girl escaped from Campbell's Corpus Christi home while he was in the shower, flagged down a passing patrol car and reported that she'd been kidnapped and sexually assaulted for a week. She also told investigators Campbell gave her a fake ID and forced her to strip at Club Cheetah there. Badillo said the task force then began investigating Robertson and the other suspects after the girl complained she was taken throughout Bexar County to have sex in exchange for money. The strip club later sued the girl, her parents, Campbell and Corpus Christi police, claiming the business was “flimflammed” and its operators question the girl's sequence of events that brought her to the club. Before his arrest Friday, Zimmerle was facing trial in March on a charge of paying kickbacks to then-Kelly USA real estate manager Ray Crosby for favorable treatment on bids submitted by Enviro-Tech, a company Zimmerle helped operate. Crosby pleaded guilty and is to testify against Zimmerle as part of his deal, First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said. Zimmerle maintains his innocence in both cases, said his lawyer, Jay Norton. “I imagine (the new case) is going to delay the trial,” Norton said.
Germantown, Maryland, United States
In 2006, Montgomery County Police identified the crime of human trafficking as an emerging issue of concern in the county. Vice and Intelligence officers in the Special Investigations Division took special training to focus on combating this crime, and have been in the forefront of investigating these crimes. In February there were three incidents where individuals who have committed crimes of human trafficking in Montgomery County, and in one incident throughout the Washington Metropolitan area, were arrested by Montgomery County Vice officers. On February 16, 2010, Rodney Hubert, age 34, of the 400 block of Vanderbilt Avenue in New York, was arrested and charged with the human trafficking of a juvenile for prostitution. This long-term investigation revealed that Rodney Hubert employed numerous individuals at his internet website design company in New York City who assisted in transporting a 15-year-old female from New York to Montgomery County, for the purpose of prostitution. The victim was recruited by the organization with the promise that she would travel to Maryland for a modeling photo shoot. Once in Maryland, the organization advertised the juvenile on Craigslist for prostitution. Also arrested were Christy Elmes, age 23, of the 3800 block of Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York; and Katherine Mateo, age 19, from the 200 block of Bethel Park Boulevard in the Bronx, New York. Also arrested in Georgia was Tomika Powell, age 21, of the 300 block of Geary Drive in Montgomery, Alabama; who was also wanted by the U.S. Army for desertion. All were charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor, and second-degree child abuse. On February 24, 2010, Deangelo A. Bynum, age 24, of the1000 block of 16th Street in northeast Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged for solicitation of a minor for prostitution. He attempted to recruit a 16-year-old female to work for him as an escort/prostitute. Bynum attempted to recruit the victim who he found on Facebook, through multiple telephone, e-mail, and text messages. Bynum insisted on photographs and a “finder fee” from the girl in order to work for him because she was considered “high risk” because of her age. Bynum was arrested after he traveled to Gaithersburg to meet the girl and collect his fee. On February 26, 2010, Arash Koraganie Ghulam Abbas, age 31, of the 17800 block of Cormorant Lane in Germantown,was arrested and charged with multiple counts of human trafficking. Abbas operated an internet escort service that was a front for prostitution and human trafficking. This organized crime business employed many women, recruited from internet social websites, and used extortion to force compliance. The business operated throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. It generated thousands of dollars of tax- free income a week. This long-term investigation which began in October of 2009, also identified and arrested several individuals associated with the organization. Montgomery County Police received assistance in this investigation from Arlington County and Fairfax County Police. The sexual solicitation of a minor for prostitution and the human trafficking of a minor for the purposes for prostitution are felonies in the state of Maryland and also violate federal laws. The public is reminded that prostitution is a crime and the human trafficking of a minor for prostitution (anyone under 18 years) has even more serious criminal ramifications. In some cases, even if a suspect claims that he did not knowingly engage a minor in prostitution, simply the fact that the victim is under 18 years of age is all that is necessary to be prosecuted for human trafficking. The Maryland State Legislature is currently considering bills that would increase the penalties for human traffickers and seize the assets of organizations that engage in this illegal activity.
Chicago, IL, United States
A Lake in the Hills man is facing charges of bringing a 14-year-old girl to the northern suburb from Kansas and using her as a prostitute. Donald R. Jones, 52, was arrested last week on a warrant from Sedgwick County, Kan., alleging aggravated trafficking, a police report said.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Sabil Mumin Mujahid, Sidney Lamar Greene, Rand Hooks, and Keyana "Koko" Marshall were indicted for their roles in the Anchorage, Alaska trafficking ring. At least three of the victims were minors.
Bentonville, AR, United States
Officials said Robertson was part of a ring that kidnapped a 14-year-old teen from San Antonio, forced her to have sex with clients and dance at a Texas strip club last year.
Memphis, TN, United States
The investigation, a collaboration with FBI agents and ICE agents resulted in the conviction of 11 defendants involved with the Memphis sex trafficking ring. Article link and text below: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/February/08_crt_158.html FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRT Three Memphis, Tennessee Men Sentenced for Role in Sex Trafficking Ring WASHINGTON � The Department of Justice announced today that three men from Memphis, Tenn., were sentenced yesterday for their roles in a Memphis sex trafficking ring. Raul Santillan-Leon, Fernando Cortes-Santillan and Cristobal Flores-Angeles all admitted to working at Memphis brothels, and Santillan-Leon and Cortes-Santillan admitted to working at brothels where an underage girl engaged in prostitution. Santillan-Leon pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 2007, to one count of child sex trafficking and was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release. Cortes-Santillan pleaded guilty on Jan.10, 2007, to one count of child sex trafficking and received a sentence of 41 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release. Flores-Angeles pleaded guilty on Jan. 4, 2007, to one count of enticing a person to cross state lines to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment and three years supervised release. Two additional defendants, Juan Mendez and Cristina Andres Perfecto, both of Nashville, Tenn., have pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial sex trafficking related to their roles in the sex trafficking ring. Perfecto admitted that she recruited two Mexican girls on behalf of Juan Mendez to come to the United States under fraudulent pretenses, knowing that the girls would be coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts and knowing that the victims were younger than 18 years of age. Mendez admitted that he dispatched Perfecto to Mexico to recruit girls under the age of 18 for the purpose of prostitution. Mendez and Perfecto face a maximum sentence of life in prison for their crimes. �The victims in this case were thrust into the brutal and demeaning world of sex trafficking, where they were fed lies, and turned into prostitutes,� said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. �The Justice Department is committed to the vigorous enforcement and prosecution of human trafficking offenses.� �Human trafficking deprives women and children of their dignity and self-esteem,� said U.S. Attorney David Kustoff. �These matters will continue to be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney�s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.� Six other defendants in the same case pleaded guilty last year to crimes including enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to commit prostitution and failure to file a factual statement about an alien. Human trafficking prosecutions such as this one are a top priority of the Department of Justice.� In the last seven fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorneys� Offices, has increased by nearly seven-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court as compared to the previous seven fiscal years. �In FY 2007, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker of the U.S. Attorney�s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case. The investigation was conducted by ICE and the FBI with assistance from the Memphis Police Department. Catholic Charities, the YWCA, World Relief, and the Salvation Army assisted the victims and witnesses in this matter. ### 08-158
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Jeffries was arrested on counts of sexual conduct with a minor and 5 other prostitution-related charges.
Bensonhurst, New York, United States
Between April 2007 and November 2009, the defendants, who are Mexican nationals, used physical violence, threats, and intimidation to force a 17-year-old Mexican woman (the victim), to work as a prostitute in and around New York City and elsewhere. The victim was not permitted to leave the apartment where she lived with the defendants in Brooklyn except to work as a prostitute. Half of the money she earned was taken by Salazar, and the balance was kept by drivers who transported her to work locations. The violence used against the victim included Salazar punching her in the face and body and beating her with a brick and a wooden board, and Mendez cutting her with a knife.
Lebanon, MO, United States
James Noel, 44, of Springfield, Mo, and 4 other men still awaiting trial James Noel, 45, of Springfield, MO pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, which he had been federally indicted for on September 7, 2010 Noel is expected to testify in the trials of the other defendants It was advertized online that the victim could be sexually tortured during live online sessions or in person. The indictment states that Noel participated in this conspiracy as a customer who paid to sexually abuse and torture the victim. Noel paid $300 to watch the victim tortured, and to sexually abuse and torture the victim. Vulnerability- According to a plea agreement, Noel described the victim as mentally delayed for her age. He believed she lacked the ability to communicate normally and had a limited vocabulary. Noel admitted that the victim did not have any ability to offer an opinion or refuse to follow orders. The victim a 16-year old runaway who had grown up in foster care homes and who suffered from mental deficiencies was enticed into a trailer home in Dec. 2002, and the victim was promised that she would be helped to become a model or a dancer. She was given her own bedroom and provided clothes and food. She was given marijuana and ecstasy, showed images of pornography and sadomasochism activities, and was sexually abused. Noel described the crank phone and another electrical device that was used to torture the victim as “extremely painful.” Noel electrocuted the victim with the crank phone himself and sometimes two men tortured the victim with crank phones at the same time. These devices were wired inside the victim’s vaginal and anal openings and to her toes. Noel admitted that he paid $300 for a special “show” that lasted two or three hours and included these sex acts.
Stockton Blvd.,Sacramento, Ca., United States
Local police were first alerted when the second girl escaped, and then the FBI took over the investigation. Brown and Beacham were arrested and tried. Brown was sentenced on Nov. 29, 2010 to 30 years in prison, followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, as a result of his conviction at trial for charges of sex trafficking of children. Brown was also ordered to pay $5,200 in restitution. Beacham pled guilty to felony charges in April and details of her sentencing have not yet been resolved.
santa ana, ca, United States
FBI in conjunction with LAPD and San Diego Sheriff's depts, as part of the Southern California Innocence Lost Task Force, conducted an investigation leading to the suspects arrest.
Kansas City, MO, United States
A man who ran a ring of underage prostitutes in Kansas City and Overland Park received a sentence of almost 22 years in federal prison for child sex trafficking. But even though Randal G. Jennings, 43, had pleaded guilty to the single human trafficking count last year, the Chillicothe, Mo., man came close to getting another five years added to his sentence by minimizing his role as a pimp at the sentencing hearing. Addressing the judge, Jennings said he thought the girls were college-age students. He also said he placed their ads on Craigslist and another Internet site so they could meet clients in nice hotels, not on the rough streets. He also said prosecutors had overcharged his case. Jennings’ four working prostitutes were 16 or 17 years old when he was arrested in January 2009. Prosecutors also alleged that Jennings had tried to induce a 13-year-old girl to begin working for him, but she declined. In interviews with investigators, the girls said that they paid about 20 percent of their earnings to Jennings, who often drove them to their “dates.” Jennings also took photos of the girls with his cell phone camera and posted the images with their online ads. -------------------- Primary Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2010/jennings.sen.htm Secondary Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/06/2285309/man-gets-22-year-sentence-for.html
The Bronx, New York, United States
On February 16, 2010, Rodney Hubert, age 34, of the 400 block of Vanderbilt Avenue in New York, was arrested and charged with the human trafficking of a juvenile for prostitution. This long-term investigation revealed that Rodney Hubert employed numerous individuals at his internet website design company in New York City who assisted in transporting a 15-year-old female from New York to Montgomery County, for the purpose of prostitution. The victim was recruited by the organization with the promise that she would travel to Maryland for a modeling photo shoot. Once in Maryland, the organization advertised the juvenile on Craigslist for prostitution. Also arrested were Christy Elmes, age 23, of the 3800 block of Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York; and Katherine Mateo, age 19, from the 200 block of Bethel Park Boulevard in the Bronx, New York. Also arrested in Georgia was Tomika Powell, age 21, of the 300 block of Geary Drive in Montgomery, Alabama; who was also wanted by the U.S. Army for desertion. All were charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor, and second-degree child abuse.
Decorah, Iowa, United States
"Deputies discovered marijuana in the house and obtained a search warrant with the assistance of the Winneshiek County Attorney's office. Later the same day, Smith and Helen Inez Taylor, 29, 2322 Ranch Road, were taken into custody and charged with possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance (marijuana) and violation of the drug excise tax. As their investigation continued, deputies learned that the 17-year-old girl had been physically and sexually assaulted, leading to charges of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual abuse and human trafficking being filed against Smith. Smith pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse and human trafficking charges in April. Last Tuesday, Smith was sentenced in Winneshiek County District Court to 25 years for second-degree sexual abuse, 25 years for human trafficking, five years for possession of a controlled substance and five years for violation of the drug excise tax on unlawful controlled substances. The sentences are to be served concurrently, and according to Winneshiek County Attorney Andy Van Der Maaten, Smith will serve a minimum of 17.5 years. The Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department was assisted in its investigation by the Allamakee County Sheriff's Department, the Decorah Police Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Iowa Attorney General's office and Winneshiek County Attorney's office." -The Decorah Journal http://www.decorahnewspapers.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=23062&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=13&S=1
Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Thaying Lor (42), bought a 12-year-old girl for bride, and kept her in the marriage until she turned 31 years of age. The Young Hmong-American victim finally sought help after years of sexual assault and two suicide attempts. During the divorce the victim testified about being raped by her husband countless amounts of times.
Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Kenny King, aka "Country Cane" hair dresser, recently moved from Alabama to Madison. He recruited an underage girl to engage in prostitution on multiple occasions in Madison, Waunakee and Sun Prairie. He has denied having any contact with the victim. Was arrested on charges of trafficking a child, 2nd degree sexual assault of a child, physical abuse of a child, and kidnapping.
Fresno, California, United States
" 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."
Maitland St Bloemfontein 9301 Freestate, South Africa
A woman in the Eastern Cape offered to find work for 17 year old Sindiswa and 15 year old Elizabeth. After driving them eight hours north to Bloemfontein, the recruiter sold them to a Nigerian drug and human-trafficking syndicate in exchange for $120 and crack cocaine. "[The recruiter] said we could find a job," Sindiswa recalled, "but as soon as we got here, she told us, 'No. You have to go into the streets and sell yourselves.' " The buyer, Jude, forced them into prostitution on the streets of central Bloemfontein for 12 straight hours every night.
Hammond, Indiana, United States
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.
Nashville, TN, United States
DOJ Press Release - 12/24/09 ================= Nashville, Tennessee Woman Sentenced on Sex Trafficking Charges . http://memphis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/me122409.htm . Nashville, TN Cristina Andres Perfecto pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2007, to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion and sex trafficking of a juvenile in the Western District of Tennessee, as well as one count of conspiracy in the Middle District of Tennessee. . Perfecto’s co-defendant, Juan Mendez, pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Perfecto and Mendez each admitted to fraudulently luring two young girls, including a 13-year-old, from rural Mexico to Tennessee with the intent of forcing them into prostitution. . Both further admitted that Mendez, with Perfecto’s assistance, physically, verbally, and sexually abused the victims in order to coerce them into prostitution. . Nine other defendants had earlier pleaded guilty in this same case for crimes including: child sex trafficking, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit money laundering, enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to commit prostitution, and violating the Mann Act.
El Cajon, California, United States
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.
Beaverton, OR, United States
Girl was discovered to due to routine traffic stop. Was eventually transported to LA Childrens of the Night shelter.
Enugu, Nigeria, Nigeria
The traffricker was arrested by Enugu police and will soon be arraigned in court. The investigation is continuing. More information:http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/41655?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
KwaCele, South Africa, South Africa
The girl was in bondage for three years before she escaped. She is now getting aftercare. No exact details were given about her escape. The Article: "I could not go back home, my grandmother told me never to come back. They sold the cows and got money," she added. Now 17, she escaped her tormented married life in July and found solace at Palmerton care centre, which has also become a home to 18 other teenage girls who escaped similar situations. They were rescued by welfare officials and police in a campaign to stem the practice, even though many communities see nothing wrong with it. Most of the girls say their abductions were pre-arranged with their parents and left them no say in the process. In many cases, girls are forced out of school and bear children, when they are barely out of puberty. "He raped me on our first night together. Every day he forced himself on me, in all the cases he overpowered me after a struggle," said Sinama, who now has a two-year-old boy by the man. "I love my child and I am going to raise him to be a good man." Captain Nomana Adonis from Mthontsasa police station, which leads a rescue campaign in villages around the area of Lusikisiki, said the abductions were a new phenomenon. "This is new. We believe there may be hundreds of other girls out there we did not reach," said Adonis. "We have encountered girls as young as 13 who were sold to old men, opening them to chances of contracting diseases like HIV." She said a number of "husbands" and parents had been arrested. "In most cases the husbands are charged with rape and abduction, but so far we have not secured a single conviction," said Adonis. Peter Mtuze, a retired academic and the former head of African Languages at Rhodes University, decried the unothordox revival of ukuthwalwa, saying it did not fit in the mordern world. "Children are literally being sold, almost to the highest bidder. This is paedophilia," said Mtuze. "In the old days men usually abducted women who were of marriage age, not minors. This is not culture," said Mtuze, adding that in the past, girls who were abducted were not raped. "The girl was kept safe until she accepted the love proposal from the man. Messengers were then sent to the parents of the girl to start lobola (dowry) talks," said Mtuze. He said the custom was practiced secretly by a number of tribes in African countries. Both the government of South Africa and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) have condemned the practice, saying it has no place in a modern society. "This custom is taking us backwards as a country. We are doing our best to stop it and protect the children," said Phearane Moreroa, head of HRC. Source-AFP TRI
Springfield, OH, United States
“A 16-year-old Mexican girl was found to have been trafficked across the US border. Doctors noticed the heavily pregnant girl showed clear signs of physical abuse when she was brought into a hospital in Dayton to give birth. The police were called but the couple who had brought her had already fled. When the girl's story emerged, it became clear she had been kept against her will in the nearby city of Springfield and used for labour and sex.” The hospital contacted Maria Messer, who works with Casa Amiga, to translate for the young girl. Messer discovered that the young girl was an illegal immigrant who was being held against her will by a local couple to have the husband’s child, and most likely sell to a childless couple. Because of the young girl’s injuries, they were planning on inducing her and stealing the child.
Chiang Rai, Thailand, Thailand
Fortunately a teacher discovered what was going on and she helped her to find a way out.
Moonah (Hobart), Tasmania, Australia
"Gary John Devine of Moonah was charged under the same investigation that saw Tasmanian politician Terry Martin charged with child sex offences." Gary Devine, 50, “charged with procuring a girl aged under 17 years to have unlawful sex with a man at a house in Hobart” “He is also charged with raping the girl on September 3 and raping a woman on August 9." “He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been bailed to appear in the Supreme Court for a committal hearing on February 10.” “...charged with taking and possessing photographs of the girl performing sex acts.” “He is also charged with permitting unlawful sex with the girl after inducing her to be at the house for the purpose of having unlawful intercourse with a man.” He has pleaded ‘not guilty.’ Devine abused media covering the case. all information taken from WA today online
Millersville, Maryland, United States
Corey was charged with human trafficking Feb. 24th 2009 in Baltimore County District Court. April 27th he was also charged with two counts of human trafficking, one count of operating a prostitution business and numerous drug charges. Police conducted the raid on the Millersville apartment, and arrested Johnson but he was released in August 2009. He continued to distribute drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) and N-Benzylpiperazine (BZP) until his federal arrest in September 2009. On September 24th 2009, an indictment alleged that Corey conspired with the three other men to run a prostitution business in his former Millersville, MD apartment. All defendants face 5 years in prison for prostitution conspiracy, 20 years for enticement, 20 years for conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and BZP. Corey, Harris and Johnson face life in prison for sex trafficking by force. Corey faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for sex trafficking of a minor, 20 years in prison for distribution of child pornography and 20 years in prison for distribution of BZP. Richard Johnson pleaded guilty Dec. 3rd 2009. He admitted in a plea agreement to enticing girls and successfully recruiting two and sharing in the earnings. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 12th 2010 at 10:00am. The Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, ICE, Anne Arundel County Police Department, Ohio police, and the US Army Criminal Investigation Command were involved in the case. The Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force includes federal, state, and local law enforcement plus victim service providers and community services.
Daly City, CA, United States
John France Gonzales beat and molested a 12 year old girl for four years. The abuse began in San Bruno, CA in 2002. Eventually, the girl was brought and held captive in his basement in Daly City for 18 months. She was used as a sex slave. His parents were unaware she lived there. Her parents filed a missing persons report.
Johannesburg, South Africa, South Africa
Social worker rescued girl, age ten. The article: Johannesburg - Lesotho-born Thato was brought to South Africa at age three, by a woman she knew simply as "granny". Five years later, her "granny" sold her into sexual slavery. The woman who bought her was running a sex ring that police are still investigating to find out how many children were involved. It's a scenario that South African authorities and child welfare campaigners are already working to prevent during the Soccerl World Cup next year, which authorities fear could draw in child traffickers hoping to cash in on the fanfare around the games. Thato, now 10, was rescued just three months ago by a social worker who brought her to Amazing Grace Children's Home, which houses 79 children outside Johannesburg. The home's founder Grace Mashaba, who explained Thato's story, said her parents probably had no idea that the "granny" would sell their daughter. "That 'granny' doesn't have children, so she keeps asking people, 'Can you give me your child so she can stay with me?' She has a good house, so people trust in her," Mashaba said. Thato at least was able to speak about her abuse. Another 10-year-old Lesotho girl rescued from the sex ring is too traumatised to talk, Mashaba said. An estimated 247 000 children in South Africa now work in exploitive labour, including prostitution, according to the Child Protection Action Plan for the World Cup, created by government's department of social development. Campaigners worry that the problem will grow with the influx of tourists next year, especially as South African schools will be closed during the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 11, meaning many children could be left unattended during the day. Families selling own children "Child trafficking is a big concern because of the big economic pull of the event," said Stephen Blight, the head of child protection in South Africa for the UN Children's Fund (Unicef). "All the fans and visitors spending money will create a whole network that criminal networks will want to benefit from." The government worries that child trafficking could increase as poor South Africans struggle for a slice of the $4bn the World Cup is expected to generate. Parliament is due to consider a trafficking law early next year, aiming to prevent children from getting recruited to beg or hawk souvenirs on the streets, or more worryingly forced into prostitution. Rebecca Pursell, a social worker for Kholisa Management Services, a child advocacy group, said the school holidays could add to the problem for children. "They will be loitering around without much activity, which places them at high risk not only of trafficking but of sexual exploitation," she said. In addition to cross-border trafficking from Zimbabwe, Mozambique or Lesotho, many poor South Africans will leave rural areas to look for work in the cities during the games, she said. Mariam Khokhar, of the UN's International Organisation for Migration, said prevention campaigns are already underway, including theatre programmes in rural areas to educate people about the danger of trafficking. "Criminal elements often tend to exploit such events, and there will be an increase in criminality which could possibly include trafficking," she told AFP. For Thato, she will live at the Amazing Grace home for now. Many of children stay at the home until they finish high school, Mashaba said. Most of them have been abandoned, orphaned or abused. Those who have been trafficked from other countries can be repatriated, but often choose to stay, Mashaba said. "Even their own families, they do sell those girls. It's the people that you know that traffic the children." - AFP
Brownsville, United States
A Brownsville couple has been sentenced for running a sex trafficking ring that brought women and teenage girls into the United States for prostitution.
Laguna Woods, California, United States
Judge Brannigan, Judge Dlaquist, Sue Ann Edwards, Stephen Sparta, Oceanside CPS, Ocaenside PD, Vista San Diego Court
South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
human trafficking ring in South Yorkshire . She said a group of young men - who her daughter met through fellow pupils - used threats and violence to control the girl's behaviour for three years.
South yorkshire, United Kingdom
Alzbeta Dunkova, aged 26, of Page Hall Road, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, got 16 years for her part in the plot and her husband Marcel Dunka, 27 and brother Roman Dunka, 34,
Fayetteville, NC, United States
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.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Derrick Avery, also known as "Pimp Snooky", ran a prostitution ring across multiple state boundaries for many years, starting as early as in 1997. He would entice girls into becoming prostitutes by bringing them gifts and jewelry. Once trafficked, girls were forced to have sex with men and sometimes rob them. If girls returned with fewer than $500 in a night, they would be beaten with pool cues, shoes, pots, broom handles, and belts, along with other forms of violence. His prostitutes were known to be as young as 14 years old. Many girls were also forced to cook and clean for him, essentially becoming domestic servants as well. He worked most prominently in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Milwaukee, but his operation expanded over eight states according to a federal criminal complaint.
Portland, Oregon, United States
8 adult males were using underage girls in a sex operation. The girls were being moved from 5 different metro area locations. The locations could not be specified because the case is on-going. Investigation also found truck drivers transporting women, however, it is unclear if the women were trafficking victims or prostitutes. It is also unclear if the truck drivers were johns or traffickers.
downsview, ont, Canada
YES! The 21 year old Haitian victim from Montreal, who had recently emigrated to Canada 8 months ago, was “romantically involved” with her perpetrator for two months before she moved to Toronto into an apartment he had set up for her. They went out for a date after dropping off her 3 year old child with a babysitter he had previously designated (she gave her daughter over to him and he dropped the child off). After dinner, it was at that point that he told her she was going to be a prostitute for him, and if she tried to call the police or try to leave, she wouldn’t see her daughter ever again. After being forced to have sex with up to four men everyday in the apartment for several weeks, the victim attacked her “pimp” one day and in turn was severely beaten by him. He fled after beating her up and she called 911. He was arrested on April 28th, 2009 by the Peel Regional Police and is facing up to 10 charges, including living off the avails of prostitution, procuring illicit sex, assault, forcible confinement, and death threats. He hasn’t however been charged with trafficking which has trafficking experts outraged. The victim has since been freed, yet there are no reports on any counselling, rehabilitation, or care for the victim. The child as of April 30th, 2009 was found and was with Children’s Aid Society.
Comfort Suites, 1891 Bragg Street, Sanford, North Carolina, 27330, United States
Searchers focused on an area about 6 miles from the last confirmed sighting of Shaniya. She was seen on security video at the Comfort Suites hotel in Sanford, along with a man who police believe is McNeill, last Tuesday morning. The body of missing 5-year-old Shaniya Nicole Davis was recovered Monday afternoon, Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine said. Sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/16/crimesider/entry5671683.shtml and http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/18/shaniya.davis/index.html
Fayette, OH, United States
seven underage girls were rescued
Reisterstown, MA, United States
Federal prosecutors said Byron Thompson, 25, and Lea Bell, 29, both of Reisterstown,were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the sex trafficking of minors in Maryland, New York and Washington, D.C. The men were also ordered at sentencing Thursday to register as sex offenders. According to court documents, Thompson and Bell recruited minors to engage in commercial sex acts. They rented more than 100 hotel rooms and recruited sex workers through friends, clubs, bars and the Internet. The pair also posted ads on the Internet to attract sex customers. From January to February 2009, Thompson and Bell prostituted two 15-year-old girls and one 17-year-old girl in Maryland.
Seattle, WA, United States
Johnson was sentenced to a 21-month prison term, following his plea to one count of promoting prostitution. Clark, whose trial is expected to stretch late into November, remains in King County Jail pending the case's resolution. "He played on everything that I went through," the young woman said, responding to questions from Deputy Prosecutor Christina Miysmasu. "He made me promises that were backed up by promises. I should have known better, because I guess promises are made to be broken. …
Revolucion, Tijauana, Baja California, Mexico
Yes and No Yes: The head of the Tourist Police Force, Andres Mendez comments that due to their involvement with the trafficking and exploitation of children, they have been able to reduce the visibility of the exploitation of children on the streets. No: At the same time now that there is a reduction of visibility it does not mean that it is not happening behind closed doors because it is. Ana Luz Sanchez commented that the police force does nothing to help these children, however they only get involved if someone files a report. Even then it is highly probable that nothing will be done to help these children.
Dillsboro, Indiana, United States
In Fulton County, Ismaiel Pachico, 35, was charged with sexual conduct with a person under the age of 16, and Mezia Sinforiano, 61; Francisco Baltazar, 32; Pablo Trigueros, 60, and Wilmar Velasquez Bravo, 20, were charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Syracuse, New York, United States
Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Cali said Edwards could face five to 15 years in prison if she does not carry out her part of the deal. Cali said the prosecution was interested in pursuing sexual assault charges against any men who had sex with the victim at Edwards' home. Authorities said the 16-year-old victim had stayed voluntarily at Edwards' home one night in December. When she tried to leave the next day, Edwards would not let her go for a couple of days, telling her she had to have sex with men to settle the debt owed for spending the night, police reported. In pleading guilty, Edwards admitted being present when several men had sex with the girl in her home.
Camden New Jersey, United States
Javon Gordan, age 27 Federal authorities allege Gordon, with the help of at least three other people, ran a prostitution ring that operated from as early as September 2007 to July 2008 in Atlantic City and various other cities, including Washington, D.C. and Boston. Gordon allegedly went online to recruit minor girls and adult women from the Atlantic City area.
Manila, Philippines
Senior State Prosecutor Deana Perez of the Department of Justice filed charges of qualified human trafficking against Reci, Manansala, and a John Doe who fled during the raid. Amelia Tria-Infante meted out the penalty of life imprisonment to Police Officer 2 Dennis A. Reci and his co-accused Feliciano Manansala after finding them guilty of qualified trafficking, the gravest offense under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (Republic Act 9208
phoenix, az, United States
17-year-old Jazmine Finley. the former Carl Hayden High School student worked as a prostitute and recruited and pandered girls as young as 14.
Al Baraha, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
One 15-year-old sex trade victim turned to Dubai Police to free her from her captors after she managed to escape with the assistance of a client. Captain Ahmad Obaid Bin Hadibah, Head of Dubai Police's Department of Combating Human Trafficking, has handled 15 cases of human trafficking in the first nine months of this year, which is close to the figure dealt with in the same period in 2008.
Kansas City (metro area), United States
This conviction is the result of Operation Guardian Angel, a unique undercover law enforcement investigation targeting the demand for child prostitutes in the Kansas City metro area. As a result of this investigation, a total of seven defendants were indicted in federal prosecution of the alleged customers of child prostitution under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. During the weekend of March 5 to 7, 2009, the Human Trafficking Rescue Project, led by the Independence Police Department, conducted a sting operation targeting local customers who solicit pimps to engage in commercial sex acts with children. The “children” were advertised online at Craig’s List. No real children were actually involved in the sting.
Malelane, South Africa, Eswatini
Victim was alone at home when a woman came, posing as her "aunt". She said 'Come, let's go to my house', and the victim refused, but she was threatened with death and abuducted. She was brought to Barberton. The woman forced her to do household chores and hard labour. She was also repeatedly raped during her second year of captivity.
Honolulu Hawaii, United States
Not much information provided, but to see full article, go to: http://www.kitv.com/news/21166323/detail.html " Honolulu police have opened an investigation after a 15-year-old girl said she was forced into prostitution. The teen told police she was held against her will in a Waikiki hotel room in the early-morning hours of Monday and sexually assaulted by the man police are calling a "pimp." Detectives said they have leads as they look for the man described only as in his 30s. He faces sexual assault and kidnapping charges."
Glenns Ferry, United States
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.
Temple Hills - Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Authorities say Shelby Lewis, age 42 , has been running a child sex trafficking operation since 2006. Two girls, ages 14 and 16, were arrested in May for prostitution and told police that Lewis was their pimp. Around the same time in May, police found a 13 year old who had been reported missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She told police that Lewis had been prostituting her for the past three years. A fouth girl said she had been prostituted by Lewis since she was 12, two years ago,
SCHENECTADY, United States
A Forest Road man allegedly took in a 14-year-old runaway, promising her food and a warm place to stay after she disappeared from a group home. Instead, prosecutors said, David Tittensor exploited her by arranging sexual liaisons with other men during two weeks in January. Her ordeal unfolded gradually. She had been living at home, but had run-ins with her parents. She was sent to the Charlton School, a group home for troubled adolescent girls in Saratoga County. She had issues there, too, and fled the school with enough money to buy a one-way bus ticket. She had a vague plan to visit a friend in Schenectady. It was a cold January afternoon when she ended up in the Electric City. She wandered the unfamiliar city streets, looking for the apartment complex where her friend lived. It was starting to get dark. She was getting scared. Jason Stapleton, 29, was drinking at a friend's house and saw her walk past on Van Vranken Avenue, not far from Union College. He called out to her, made small talk, offered her a cigarette and a drink. He said he'd give her a ride to her friend's house. On the way, he said he needed to stop to see Tittensor. At Tittensor's house, the two men got the girl drunk on vodka and beer and high on marijuana in the attic. She passed out. Stapleton then raped the girl when she was unconscious. Stapleton pleaded guilty to first-degree rape in March and agreed to testify against Tittensor. He is serving six years in state prison, according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services web site. The girl said Tittensor seemed nice at first. He gave her a place to stay, took her shopping for clothes, even let her pick out her own towels and toiletries. Tittensor shared the house with a girlfriend and an 8-year-old son during visitations. When his friends came over, he sent her to the unfinished attic. Up there, he kept an old mattress leaned up against a wall. All of the alleged sex acts with the girl took place during the first two weeks of January. The girl had initially been reluctant to identify Tittensor, authorities said. It also took time to track down the men who had sex with her, authorities said. Tittensor and six other men have been charged. The men paid between $40 and $80, according to the criminal complaint filed in City Court.
Accra, Ghana, Ghana
Only hours after their rescue, traffickers reclaimed most of these victims by posing as boyfriends and family members at the government’s shelter, according to local observers. More information: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/105379.htm
Woodstock, Georgia, United States
The owner of La Cabana restaurant smuggled women and girls from Central and South America into the US and engaged them in prostitution to repay their smuggling debts, according to documents filed in federal magistrate court in Atlanta. The victims, some as young as 15, allegedly performed sex acts for money in a "sex room" at the restaurant and at the owner's home on Jamie Way in Woodstock. The business operates as a restaurant during the day, but after 10pm it transitions into a "Gentlemen's Club,"
slaverymap.com, United States
Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy Garrido. Garrido kidnapped Jaycee an 11 year old girl after she got off a school bus in Lake tahoe CA. Her step father heard her scream and saw a car drive off. Her father tried in vane to follow her capture. Jaycee was kept in a small area for 18 years. She was raped by Garrido and had 2 children by him, her 1st at 14 yrs old. Neither child nor Jaycee went to school or the doctor.
Cambodia, Cambodia
" Department of Justice Press Release For Immediate Release August 31, 2009 United States Attorney's Office Central District of California Contact: (213) 894-2434 Three American Men Accused of Traveling to Cambodia to Have Sex with Children Now En Route to United States to Face Prosecution on Federal ‘Sex Tourism’ Charges LOS ANGELES—The first three defendants to be charged under an international law enforcement initiative targeting Americans who travel to Cambodia to sexually exploit children have been removed from that Southeast Asian nation and are expected to arrive here later today to face prosecution in federal court. The charges against the three men are the result of Operation “Twisted Traveler,” an ongoing effort by the Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and prosecute “sex tourists” who travel to Cambodia to engage in illicit sex with children. The three defendants currently being transported to the United States were previously convicted of sex offenses in the United States. The defendants will be taken into custody by ICE agents when they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, which is expected to be sometime this afternoon. The three men, who are named in separate criminal complaints filed earlier this year in United States District Court, are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court tomorrow afternoon. Prior to their return to the United States, the men were arrested and detained by Cambodian authorities on charges related to child sexual exploitation. At a news conference this morning, United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien and Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton announced the three cases and promised further enforcement actions focusing on Americans who sexually exploit children in Cambodia and other countries. “The men charged in this investigation apparently thought they could pursue their abhorrent desires by leaving the United States to prey on children in another country, but they were sadly mistaken,” said United States Attorney O’Brien. “We are now working closer than ever with officials in other nations and concerned private parties to take every effort we can to identify and prosecute sex tourists, as well as to provide every protection we can to the world's children.” Assistant Secretary Morton stated: “Sexual predators cannot escape justice simply by traveling overseas to exploit, violate and abuse children. Working closely with our partners overseas, ICE will identify people who travel for illicit purposes. We must protect children from sexual exploitation, whether in the United States or abroad. Today's announcement should send a message that traveling overseas to exploit children will not be tolerated and will not go unnoticed.” The Twisted Traveler cases are the result of information provided to ICE by investigators for Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), a non-governmental organization (NGO) established to combat child sexual exploitation, and International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. The three defendants scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles this afternoon are: Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, of Menlo Park, California, who was arrested by the Cambodian National Police (CNP) in February. According to an affidavit by an ICE agent, Boyajian most recently traveled to Cambodia a year ago, where he allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl in an area outside Phnom Penh frequented by child sex tourists known as “Kilo 11.” Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, of Norwalk, California, who was taken into custody by the CNP in late February. The criminal complaint accuses Peeters of engaging in sexual activity with at least three Cambodian boys. The affidavit in the case states that Peeters, who arrived in Cambodia in May 2008, paid the minors $5 to $10 for sex. Jack Louis Sporich, 75, formerly of Santa Monica, California and now a resident of Sedona, Arizona, who was arrested by the CNP in February. According to the criminal complaint, Sporich sexually abused at least one underage Cambodian boy after he arrived there in November 2008. According to the case affidavit, witnesses interviewed by APLE stated that Sporich often drove his motor bike through the streets of the city of Siem Riep, dropping Cambodian currency as a way to attract children. The three men are charged under the PROTECT Act, which went into effect six years ago and substantially strengthened the federal laws related to predatory crimes involving children outside the United States by adding new crimes and increasing sentences. Boyajian, Peeters and Sporich each are charged with international travel and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors, a charge that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The child sex tourism cases announced today are the direct result of the unprecedented cooperation among U.S. authorities such as the FBI and Department of State, the Cambodian government and NGOs to target Americans traveling to Cambodia to sexually exploit minors. In June, a delegation including United States Attorney O’Brien, Los Angeles ICE Special Agent in Charge Robert Schoch and ICE’s Bangkok attaché Barry Tang traveled to Cambodia, where they met with the United States Ambassador to Cambodia, along with the Commander General of the CNP and representatives from APLE and IJM, to discuss the ongoing enforcement efforts. “These new charges clearly demonstrate to the Cambodian people that the United States will not tolerate this type of abuse,” said Carol Rodley, the United States Ambassador to Cambodia. “These cases not only signal to the Cambodian victims our commitment to justice, but they will also act as a powerful deterrent for those individuals who are contemplating traveling to Cambodia to engage in illegal sexual activity with minors.” Operation Twisted Traveler is a collaborative investigative effort coordinated by ICE’s Office of International Affairs that involves the agency’s Attaché Office in Bangkok and the Los Angeles ICE Office of Investigations. ICE has received substantial support with this initiative from the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service. As part of Operation Twisted Traveler, ICE and FBI agents jointly conducted training for organizations in Cambodia involved in the effort to combat child sex tourism, including representatives from the CNP, local Cambodian law enforcement and several NGOs. The training covered all aspects of child sex tourism investigations, ranging from search and seizure procedures and surveillance techniques to the legal authorities contained in the PROTECT Act."
Lagos, Nigeria, Nigeria
311 children were intercepted in Lagos from other countries, many of whom came in through towns along Nigeria's border. Of these, 250 were from Benin, 67 from Togo, 12 from Ghana, 4 from Cameroon, and 3 from Congo. The children were sold as domestic servants and prostitutes for Nigerian brothels. More information: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2009/aug/22/living-22-08-2009-002.htm
Houston, TX, United States
Naim Jorge-Tovar, 33, a Mexican national illegally in the United States has been indicted for sex trafficking of a child. According to allegations contained in a criminal complaint filed against Tovar on July 22, 2009, Tovar romanced a 16-year-old Mexican female, in Mexico, and smuggled her into the United States around April 2009. Shortly after arriving in the country, Tovar told the victim she would have to work in an apartment. She thought he meant that she would work cleaning an apartment. What he meant, according the complaint, was that she would be working as a prostitute in an apartment. The victim was threatened with physical harm if she refused. Tovar kept all the money derived from the commercial sex acts the victim was coerced into performing. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txs/releases/August%202009/082009Tovar.htm
Houston, TX, United States
4 men and 1 women were charged with trafficking of women and children for commercialized sex. They were headquartered out of Huston but would fly the girls to other states to work. They operated out of several modeling studios and message parlors. They used physical beatings,threats at gunpoint, threats to harm family members, and promises of love and affection to control victims.
Huston, TX, United States
Naim Jorge-Tovar, 33 a Mexican citizen romanced a 16 year old girl and then smuggled her into th U.S.. Once here he forced her into prostitution.
Little Rock, AR, United States
Everette Cooney and Tommy Handy were arrestd on charges of sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a child for commerical sexual explotation. They got girls between the ages of 14 through 18 to sell their bodies for th defendants personal gain.
Robertson County, TN, United States
Police started investigating the Wests in early 2009 after an anonomous informant alerted police that students from a Robertson County High School were being hired to work as prostitutes. Federal agents picked up a 16 year old girl in early August as part of an investigation into a prostitution ring. The girl had been recruited and told to tell customers that she was really 18. On Aug. 3, Teresa West checked into a Murfreesboro hotel room and then went to a second room. Later that night, a federal affadavit said, a 16 year old girl went to the first room. She was picked up and later told investigators that she was still in high school. She said that during the summer she had seen clients 20 or 30 times. Typically clients paid her $110 with $40 going to Teresa West.
Silver Star Rd & N Powers Dr, Orlando, Orange, Florida 32808, United States
A 15-year-old Orange County girl who ran away from home after an argument with her mother was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to turn tricks for her kidnappers for 21 days. The records show the girl ran away after an argument with her mom and quickly agreed to come home; however, as she walked home and passed the Silver Oaks Apartments at Silver Star Road and Powers Drive, a man forced her into a van at gunpoint, reports show. Aleisea N. Smith, 22, and Timothy L. Smith, 39, are accused of kidnapping a 15 year old teen at gunpoint and demanding she turn tricks for them. They remain at the Orange County Jail without bail. Oakland police learned Smith's identity and discovered an outstanding warrant while investigating her for an unrelated incident. She was in court Thursday to face new charges of child neglect and providing false information to police in that other case. Timothy L. Smith already was in jail in an unrelated child-support case when he was charged in the 2007 case, records show. He faces nine counts, including sex trafficking, kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Brownsville, TX, United States
ICE made arrests on both of the traffickers. Coronado and Zeiger are charged with one count of conspiring to harbor illegal aliens in October 2008, one count of importing aliens for prostitution purposes, one count of attempting to import a minor alien for prostitution purposes, and two counts of harboring aliens for prostitution purposes.
Lake Ronkonkoma, United States
If convicted, the defendants face a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine in connection with the sex trafficking charges, up to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine in connection with the forced labor charges, and a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the alien harboring charges.
Huepetuhe, Peru, United States
An "agency" (according to an article, nothing else is specified) told the 17 year old girl that she would be provided with a good job in a restaurant in the city of Puerto Maldonado. Instead she was brought to Puerto Maldonado where the 17 year old was forced into sex trafficking. It is in a mining region of Peru where there are many men that work the mines, so there is a high demand for cheap sexual services.
Roselawn, IN, United States
The accused was charged in 1985 with molesting a teen-age girl. He operated Naked City near Roselawn, IN from 1968 to 1986. On March 24, 1986, he agreed to plea guilty to ten sex-related misdemeanors and was given a suspended sentence. He had previously pleaded guilty to obscenity charges in 1982 but according to John Casey, an attorney for Newton County. He later owned and operated a nudist colony, Naked City West, in southern CA. There, he was arrested in 1990 on five felony and four misdemeanor charges including procurring a minor by false inducement for lewd acts and procurement by false inducement for prostitution. In a plea bargain, 28 charges against him from years before were dropped and he pleaded guilty to distribution or exhibition of lewd materials to a minor. He was sentenced up to one year in Riverside County Jail and was to be on probation for five years, fined up to $5000 and have no contact with children or youth other than those whose parents gave permission for such contact, not be permitted to use pornographic materials, and be listed as a sex offender. Male, uses a wheelchair because he suffers from muscular dystrophy 57 in 1990 Formerly of Chicago Ran nudist camps in Newton County, IN and in southern CA Drost’s lawyer blamed his conviction on an attempt to enforce a particular fundamentalist point of view and thereby establish a religion, and sued Newton County, IN for $50 Million and the State of Indiana for $1 billion for alleged violation of his civil rights and similar charges. Agreed to stay out of IN for 10 years Currently lives in Homeland, Riverside County, CA Listed on American Sunbathers’ “Caution List” since 1986 Edits review of national nudist camps & “swing clubs” in the US Acquired “Club Zoro” (founded in 1933 by Chicago lawyer Alois Knapp) from his parents who purchased the club soon after World War II Has there been intervention? Originator of Miss Nude America Contest which was also filmed in 1975 Put in contracts for “Miss Nude America” contest that participants must be willing to sleep with him & meet his every need Originator of Miss Nude Teeny Bopper Universe Contest Sources: http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Drost.html http://ontheslowtrain.blogspot.com/2007/05/dark-side-of-naked-city.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roselawn,_Indiana http://www.revengeismydestiny.com/cult_movies_hot_100_page_3.html(Some of the articles incorrectly say Roselawn, IL instead of IN which is correct.)
Aflao, Ghana, Togo
The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. The NGO Every Child Ministries Ghana negotiated with the Sovigbenor shrine and educated the sfinally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all 126 of its trokosi slaves on December 9, 2005. 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 13 year old girl was freed who had been enslaved in the shrine since she was too young to remember. She had been sent to the shrine to replace her grandmother who had been a trokosi. The practice of replacement demands that when an offense is perceived, it must be atoned for until the end of time, so that if one slave dies or runs away, she must be replaced by another from the same family.
Metropolitan Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Ballard’s case dates back to 2005 when he met a 14-year old runaway girl on Metropolitan Avenue in Atlanta. The teen moved in with him and he immediately began having sex with her. Within a month of meeting the victim, he began to beat and pistol-whip her on a consistent basis and eventually began to prostitute her. At times, Ballard would send the teen out to Metropolitan Avenue to solicit men, other times he brought “clients” to their home. In 2006, the victim’s mother, who had previously reported her daughter as a runaway, spotted the teen walking down the street. She called police who responded immediately and questioned the victim about her eight month ordeal. Ballard was arrested a short-time later.
Michigan City, IN, United States
Male, 45, from Michigan City, IN Trafficker apprehended & in federal custody Transporting children across state lines for purpose of sex Enticing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for purpose of videoing it Child exploitation Sources: http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080515southbend1.htm http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0906/090626southbend.htm
Little Rock, AR, United States
one male- Everett Cooney and a female prostituted a minor to pay for their drug habbit. They also got the victim addicted to drugs. Cooney's plea agreement saw the dropping of sex trafficking of a minor to sex trafficking. Female is to stand trial will be in October 2009.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States
"For decades Portsmouth’s secret was an evolving red light district on the waterfront. Famous worldwide, locals talked about it in whispers. But in 1912 a 14-year old girl briefly told reporters about her abduction to a local brothel by an older woman. Although Portsmouth, NH had a thriving “combat zone”at the turn of the 20th century, it remained a hush-hush topic in the local media. Brothels on Water Street (now Marcy) in what is now the city’s gentrified waterfront were simply referred to in print as "houses." Female prostitutes, often underage, were called "inmates" according to one news report, or simply "women." The most explicit phrase of the era used in newspapers was "house of ill repute." Despite attempts to clean up the corrupt area in the Victorian era, local police conspired with bordello* and illegal bar owners to keep the red light district open and profitable. Police who attempted to clean up the area sometimes met a violent response. In 1912 a series of murders drew public attention to the situation in the South End and led to the closing of most houses of ill repute. During that summer a rare interview with a 14-year old girl appeared on the front page of a Portsmouth newspaper. Ethel Duffy was kidnapped while staying with friends in Dover, apparently drugged and brought to a Portsmouth bordello. Constance Perry, 25, her abductor, was held on $5,000 bail for what reporters called "white slavery.” Unable to place Duffy in a local bordello, Perry chose to solicit men on the Portsmouth streets who "assaulted" the girl as she stayed with Perry in a room on Deer Street. Police arrested two men who had reportedly paid Perry for access to the girl who was in "a pitiful condition" when she was brought to the police station. Ethel Duffy herself was held on a $500 bond to keep her available as a witness against Perry. Duffy’s published account, apparently in her own words, offers a rare glimpse inside the city’s flesh trade." From the Human Trafficking in New Hampshire Report issued by the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Pasadena ISD High School, United States
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott & a concerted effort between multiple law enforcement organizations including Pasadena Independent School District Police Department and the FBI. Three-count indictment was returned under seal by a Houston grand jury on 7/8/09 and unsealed 7/23/09 following Davis' arrest. The indictment also seeks to forfeit Davis' interest in a 2002 Mercedez Benz, a laptop, flashdrives, photographs and paperwork.
fort lewis, washington, United States
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.
Concord, New Hampshire, United States
In August 2007, Marianne, a former victim advocate for a domestic violence crisis center located on the Seacoast, received a call from the National Human Trafficking Hotline in New York City. They called to report that a victim of human trafficking in her local area had contacted them asking for assistance. The victim was a 17-year-old woman who had been kidnapped from her native country 5 years before at the age of 12. She had been working for those 5 years as a sex slave in a house in New Hampshire with 5 other young women of similar age. She was seeking refuge and fortunately, in the 45-minute time window she had to get free, she had been able to reach the Trafficking Hotline and the Hotline had been able to reach Marianne. Marianne was told by the Hotline worker that the young woman had not eaten for 2-3 days and that she should be very cautious in feeding her -- only giving her moderate amounts of food and beverage while her system recovered from being starved. The Hotline worker also advised Marianne that the victim had been cut by her captors in the abdomen and might need emergency medical help. 15 After picking up the victim, Marianne connected with the Hotline to inform them of her success. The Hotline then contacted the American Council of Bishops in Washington, DC. There were two people on the line whom Marianne put on speaker phone in the shelter. They wanted to hear from the victim herself. Unfortunately, about two minutes into the call the speakers mentioned that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be contacted in the process of getting the victim help. Once the victim heard that, she started to pace the office and told Marianne that she wanted to leave. She ended up leaving the shelter and she never saw her again. Marianne stated that she knew at that moment that the mention of the word “immigration”had probably fulfilled a threat her captors had made to her. She concluded, The police didn’t find her. I never saw her again. I don’t know where she went or what happened to her. All I could think of was that she might have been forced to return to her captors in order to “feel safe” from what could happen to her in the “outside world.” I will never forget her. I pray for her and for her mother….and for the rest of the young women who were kidnapped and held against their will in that house in New Hampshire. As difficult as it is to believe that New Hampshire houses victims of human trafficking, I had evidence of such activity right before my eyes. She pointed out that she wasn’t able to protect her or to get her help, so the Commission’s work is very important for providing strong victim advocacy and protection in the future. The Demand for Trafficking in New Hampshire The crime of human sex trafficking can be characterized by a supply and demand relationship. The supply side of sex trafficking involves the men, women and children who are raped, beaten, and psychologically abused, only to then be sexually exploited and “sold” to others who often repeat this same violent cycle. The demand side of sex trafficking, on the other hand, is the 16 people (mostly men) who buy these services. Often referred to as “johns,” these men represent the demand that fuels this worldwide sex industry.
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Valente Chavez Sanchez,23; Melania "Maritza" Corcino,43; and Jose Altagracia Deleon Corcino,25, operated a sex trafficking ring between 1997 and August 2004 in Raleigh, Fuquay-Varina, and Lillington, North Carolina. They trafficked the women and at least one 14 yr. old minor from New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Sanchez arranged the transportation of prostitutes from NY, NJ and MD. "The women typically would work a week in a brothel in Raleigh or Durham and then be exchanged for other out-of-state prostitutes. The price Sanchez paid for each new prostitute was $130"(N&O). Women were kept "under lock and key" and were not allowed to quit. "Where the minor was found, there were armed guards at the house," Rangarajan said. Corcino "was barking orders and even offered her service [to investigators]"(N&O). N&O, "Brothel Workers Enslaved," - http://www.newsobserver.com/news/sheehan/2005/story/369695.html N&O, "Three Accused of Operating Brothels," - http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/raleigh/story/351559.html N&O, "Woman Sentenced in Brothel Case," - http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1090025.html ABC 11, "Uncovering Secret Brothels," - http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news&id=3924744 News 14, "Raleigh Man Pleads Guilty to child sex trafficking," - http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=78154
East Memphis, tennessee, United States
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.
Cananea Mexico, Mexico
Jose Rosario Irazaba Aldaco, 45, claims to be from Phoenix, Arizona. It is believed that he kidnapped the victims including his two stepsons with the intent to sell them in the States. The boys ages 1 and 4 would be sold for $10,000 and the girls, 19, 15 and 12 would be sold 2 grand a piece to work as prostitutes.
Springfield Oregon, United States
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/springfield_man_accused_of_chi.html
dili, timor-leste, Timor-Leste
There are ten suspects, including one woman, involved in the human trafficking ring in Dili. Names and details of these suspects are not known. The suspects lured the women into traveling to Timor-Leste on the pretext they would have legitimate jobs as waitresses or masseuses. Once in the country they were forced to provide sexual services.
pune, india, India
Four people have been arrested in the case including three agents from West Bengal (Dildar Mohammed Younus Hussain (32), Sabina Mohammed Alam (25) and Shahanarabegum Gazi (23)) and the owner of the brothel (Gauri Kancha Tamang (37) who has three previous registered charges against her). The suspects lured the three minors to come to Pune from Bangladesh with the pretext of getting them a housekeeping job and marriage. The girls aged from 15 to 17.
Duke University NC, United States
Frank M. Lombard, 42, was arrested last week at his home in Durham, North Carolina. During an Internet chat, Lombard allegedly offered the child to the person he was chatting with, who was a task force officer from Washington's Metropolitan Police, the FBI said in a statement. Lombard is the associate director of Duke University's Center for Health Policy, but was placed on unpaid administrative leave, effective immediately, last week, university spokesman Keith Lawrence said. The chat was initiated after a confidential source facing child pornography charges told authorities they had witnessed a man, allegedly Lombard, performing sex acts on a child over the Internet. During the chat, according to the complaint filed against Lombard, he told the officer that he had performed multiple sex acts on the boy and that the officer could do the same if he came to Durham.
Alameda County, California, United States
The minor was arrested for solicitation. Trafficker was not tracked down or prosecuted.
Otis, Oregon, United States
Ramon Lopez-Montanez, 39. Origionally from Salem. One of four Lopez-Montanez brothers that operated a big trafficking ring. The victim, Mayra Martina Hernandez-Vargas (15 at time of caputre) was approached by Montanez at her coffee shop in Guadalajara where she worked. He invited her to a party, she got permission from her grandmother, and got in his car. She was taken to a brothel and traveled to LA, Northern California, and finally OR where she tended to the brothers marijuana fields. He was growing marijuana in Otis and Salem, OR.
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Law enforcement received an anonymous email from a "john" suggesting that Warren may have been using juveniles. Police followed the lead to one of Warren's ads and initiated an undercover sting operation. The sting agent responded to the ad and met the 23 yr old at a Minneapolis hotel bar, where she said she could provide a 16 yr old for an additional fee. Police surveillance captured Warren driving the sisters to the hotel, where the three were subsequently arrested. Tye 23 yr old claims to have been prostituted since the age of 15, and that a heroin dependency kept her in the business. A large amount of heroin was discovered in Warren's car.
honolulu, United States
rodney king, 43 and sharon-mae nashimura, 30 were convicted by grand jury of 5 counts of sex trafficking
toledo, ohio, United States
This was part of a three day initiative called Operation Cross Country, FBI working with local law enforcement.
Milwaukee, WI, USA, United States
Acting United States Attorney Michelle L. Jacobs announced that a federal grand jury on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, indicted Todd Carter, 39, and his son, Nicholas Harrison, 19, both from Milwaukee on multiple counts of sex trafficking of children, transporting children across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, and conspiracy to do so, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1591, 2423(a), and 371. If convicted of the charged offenses, both men face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Each also face fines of $250,000 on each count. Acting United States Attorney Michelle L. Jacobs announced that a federal grand jury on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, indicted Todd Carter, 39, and his son, Nicholas Harrison, 19, both from Milwaukee on multiple counts of sex trafficking of children, transporting children across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, and conspiracy to do so, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1591, 2423(a), and 371. If convicted of the charged offenses, both men face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Each also face fines of $250,000 on each count. Harrison was being held Thursday February 26th 2009, at the Milwaukee County Jail. A U.S. magistrate had approved his release on a $40,000 property bond but that order was stayed when federal prosecutors objected. An appeal on that ruling is pending. Carter was ordered held until trial, according to online court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned and enter a plea on Tuesday, while Harrison's arraignment and plea hearing is scheduled for three days later.
Southeast Houston, United States
Three traffickers: Jorge Montano, 24 Sonia Tecuapacho Jorge Aguila-Cuapio, 19 smuggled a 15-year-old teen from Mexico and forced her into prostitution.
Glendale, Colorado, United States
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.
las vegas, nv, United States
Weicks was arrested by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officers on October 30, 2004 near the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and St. Louis Streets. Officers recovered a loaded 38 caliber revolver from his vehicle. Weicks claimed to be carrying the firearm to protect the minor. Under federal law he was prohibited from carrying the firearm due to earlier convictions.
Midvale, Utah, United States
DeWayne Eugene Hopkins, 27, and Julia Young, 19, allegedly sold four females for sex over Craigslist.com, ages 24, two are 17, and 15. The pair were indicted with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children, even though all girls willingly participated in the activity. The pair are also facing charges of child pornography for posting pictures of the girls on craigslist.com, backpage.com, and cityvibe.com. Girls were lured in with the promises of employment and quick money, and were directed to recruit other teens to also work as escorts.
Toledo, Ohio, United States
Franklin Robinson, David Powers, Shimon Maxwell, Robert D. Scott, Robert D. Scott II, Terrence Williams, Kenneth B, Tana Adkins, Melissa Jacobs, Derick Price, Derek Maes, and Eric Pennington among others were arrested and are under federal indictment with prostitution-related charges. They were herding minors from the Toledo area, across state lines, to work in an organized sex ring.
Seattle, United States
Federal authorities have charged Sean Jarae Hart in an 11-count indictment with sex trafficking of a child for allegedly transporting a young girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Sean Jarae Hart, also known as Hush, was in custody in the Portland area after being arrested in Oregon, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake said. The Trial took place in Seattle.
lima, peru, Peru
she was trafficked by an older man who at first tried to "help" her and her two girlfriends find an apartment. He would take them out to expensive restaurants, bought them and their friends drinks and drugs. The girls thought of him as a a father figure. On one occasion after drinking and being slipped drugs all of the girls were very tired so he took them to a hotel where they could fall asleep. One of the girls remembered waking up and seeing the man raping her friend but was too tired and drugged to get up and do anything about it. When all three of the girls woke up the next morning they found their clothes on the floor with blood on them and 100 soles on the bed. After this, all three of the girls self esteem was gone. They spent the 100 soles on drugs and alcohol. The man bought the girls cell phones and shelter and would continually lure them in with affection and then continually beat them. He paid for a little room for the three of them to share that smelled of yearn and was located in a really bad area. He would allow the girls to have boyfriends from now and then , although most of these "boyfriends" were his friends and would also rape the three girls.
San Marcos, Florida, United States
Sheriff's deputies and the FBI arrested Charles Tyrone Young, 28, in San Marco for using MySpace, Craigslist and other Web sites to lure teenage girls into prostitution. Young goes by the name "Stay Down" and has a home in Las Vegas. Anyone with information about this alleged pimp is asked to call the FBI's Los Angeles office at (310)477-6565.
lima, peru, Peru
The institution denied her aid when she was in serious condition after being raped and hit by a car. She was thrown back into the institution after being found at Generacion by her judge. She was abused with pills and injections in the institution.
Lima, Peru, Peru
The victim's case was unknown to the government, and unfortunately the only way that the victim was able to escape her situation was through death. After years of having been sexually explotiated, even while pregnant, the victim passed away without any record of her trafficker's actions or justice for what she endured.
Seattle, Washington, United States
As part of the FBI's "Innocence Lost" inniative, almost 50 juvenile prostitutes, including 10 from Seattle, were rescued during a nationwide crackdown by local and federal authorities on pimps who force children to sell sex for money. The youngest girl rescued in Seattle was 13. Thirty- five adult prostitutes also were arrested in Seattle,as well as two men and one woman suspected of promoting minors in prostitution. The suspects were arrested after supervising girls who met undercover detectives in the 200 block of Sixth Avenue North. No names of those arrested were given in the article. This article also gave information about an arrest made in January of Toda Robinson, 33, who dropped off girls to perform sex acts after the girls, both 15, asked an undercover detective if he was a cop, which he denied. They agreed to perform sex acts for $425. Thus he was arrested with two counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse.
Waikiki, United States
At least two underage girls from Hawaii were among those recruited for a prostitution ring that shuffled victims between Honolulu and Detroit for nearly two years and advertised "escort services" on the Internet, federal authorities said yesterday. Four Detroit men were charged in connection with the scheme -- one of four prostitution rings nationwide under investigation since 2003 as part of a federal program aimed at ending human trafficking and child prostitution in the United States. The arrests of 19 people in Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in connection with the rings were announced yesterday at a Washington, D.C., news conference. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said more than 30 children -- some as young as 12 -- had been forced to have sex. All of the victims were American nationals, and some had been reported missing or had run away because they had been abused at home.
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
A 13-year-old female met a man via a phone chat line who ended up figuring out her address. The man went to her home and kidnapped her. She was raped multiple times, and video of the rapes were posted on the Internet for profit.
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
A 14-year-old runaway female was introduced by another girl to a local pimp. The pimp introduced her to drugs, then forced her into sex with multiple partners. When she was about to be sold to another pimp, she broke free and ran for her life. To prevent her from leaving, her pimp shot her in the leg, wounding her, but she managed to get to safety and help.
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
A 15-year-old female made the mistake of getting into the car of a man she met at a mall in Atlanta. The man abducted her, imprisoned her in a room at a hotel, for weeks, made money by selling her for sex. She escaped when she left his sight to supposedly take a bath, and hotel guests called the police to help her.
Memphis, United States
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Memphis Police Dept. and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. The case was prosecuted in US District Court in Memphis.The plea was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King and U.S. Attorney Lawrence Laurenzi. Fox faces 10 years to life in prison. He could also be fined $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for May 28, 2009. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Steve Parker and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Jim Felte. Sentencing has been postponed to July 9, 2009.
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
FBI agents in an undercover sting nabbed three Kansas men who traveled to meet an agent posing as a child. Some of the men crossed state lines to do so. The men used either the telephone, Internet or both to entice the minors into sex acts. The FBI will not comfirm if real minors were involved.
Montgomery County, Maryland, United States
According to the indictment and affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, from April to May 2007 the defendants coerced a minor girl to engage in sex for pay. The indictment further alleges that Royal: coerced two additional minors to engage in sex, for which he was paid; threatened to harm the girls and their families; struck the girls; and held one of the girls at gun point. On several occasions, Royal gave the girls illegal drugs before forcing them to engage in sex with him. Royal drove the girls to hotels in Gaithersburg, Maryland, or caused them to be transported from Maryland to the District of Columbia, to have them engage in sex. The indictment and affidavit further allege that the defendants provided the girls with cocaine, "dippers" or "ciga-wets" (cigarettes dipped in phencyclidine liquid known as PCP), marijuana, and alcohol before coercing them to engage in sex with customers, and sometimes sold cocaine to customers. The defendants gave the girls instructions on pricing for different sexual acts and instructed the girls to lie about their ages. The affidavit also alleges that Bentolila provided her residence and a vehicle to facilitate the sex acts of two of the girls.
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in Little Rock, Ark., for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking for their roles in using force, fraud and coercion to cause juvenile girls and adult women to engage in commercial sex acts. Handy and Cooney allegedly benefitted financially from the conspiracy, which took place from January 2002 to May 2008. Handy was also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Toledo, Ohio, United States
Two girls ages 14 and 15 lured into car and forced to service customers at truck stops across state lines in Michigan Accused: Deric Willoughby and accomplices.
wakayama, japan, Japan
The traffickers forced the victim, a 15-year-old, to have sex for money to cover her high phone bill. On one occasion in February 2008, the girl was forced to perform “an indecent sex act” with a man in a hotel room for 12,000 yen (£90). “Her mother was sentenced to three years and six months in prison along with a 100,000 yen (£750) fine, after being convicted of conspiring with the girl's stepfather to make the schoolgirl perform the sex act at the hotel.”
Alameda, California, United States
On March 24, 2008, the mother of a 14 year old girl contacted a parole agent, and accused the defendant of “the kidnapping, rape, and pimping of her daughter.” The girl was abducted at gunpoint at a bus stop on March 3. She was then forced with physical threats to prostitute herself over the span of two weeks. She was detained by police on March 17th under suspicion of prostitution. Sullivan was arrested on March 25th at the Bay Breeze Inn in Oakland. A parole search of the defendant’s vehicle provided a digital camera, laptop, a book about pimping, and a cell phone. It was later discovered that the items seized had child pornography on them, which included images and video of the victim. The victim, under the pressure of her mother provided information to the OPD and picked Sullivan out of a lineup.
Rochdale, town centre, United Kingdom
Reported 2 August 2010: Nine men convicted at Manchester Crown Court in connection with the abuse were: Aftab Khan, 31, of Tarporley Avenue, Fallowfield pleaded guilty to one count of controlling a child prostitute and one count of sexual activity with a child. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. This was later reduced to seven years on appeal Abid Khaliq, 30, of Shrewsbury Street, Stretford was sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting perverting the course of justice Noorzai Ahmed, 29, of Royce Court, Hulme was sentenced to four years in prison after he was found guilty of paying for the sexual services of a child Mohammed Anwar Safi, 29, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 31 months in prison after admitting paying for the sexual services of a child Mohammed Khan, 26, of Royce Court, Hulme was sentenced to four years in prison after he was found guilty of facilitating child prostitution Najibullah Safi, 33, of Reabrook Avenue, West Gorton was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to sexual activity with a child Asad Yousaf Hassa, 28, of Rivington Street, Rochdale was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting two counts of sexual activity with a child Mohammed Basharat, 28, of Prospect Street, Rochdale was sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child under 16 Mohammed Atif, 29, of Rivington Street, Rochdale was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to sexual activity with a child
Sacramento, CA, United States
Marvin Chapelle Epps, 23, met 16-yr-old victim on MySpace in September 2008 and offered for her to come work for him, and victim responded. He offered to buy her bus/train ticket for her to come from Solano county to Sacramento. He was her pimp for about three weeks in October 2008. He took erotic pictures of her and placed her advertisement on a number of sexual service sites including massage, escorts, etc. She reported all the money was turned over to him. Epps pleaded guilty on April 12 2010 and is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 am July 26, 2010. He faces the likely minimum 10 years in prison, $250,000 fine, a lifetime of supervised release and an order of restitution, though numbers may be higher due to specific variables according to the FBI.
Happy Valley, OR, United States
The case was investigated by the Oregon Human Trafficking Taskforce, FBI, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and the Portland Police Bureau. Scurry initially was charged with a seven count indictment alleging multiple counts of sex trafficking of a child and interstate prostitution. He plead guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and recieved 84 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin.
South Coast Highway, Oceanside CA, United States
The case was investigated under the Innocence Lost National Initiative, the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation-Obscenity Section, by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the FBI. The US attorney's office "aggresively prosecuted" the case. The federal government was able to apply jusrisdiction to the case because the camera used to take exploitative pictures of the child had been manufactured in Korea. Federal powers also applied because of interstate commerce that took place in the motel and because of the use of the Internet.
Bridgeport, CT, United States
This case was investigated by a law enforcement team that was spearheaded by FBI Special Agent Sean O'Malley. Special Agent O'Malley was assisted by IRS Special Agent Colin Burns; the Bridgeport, Conn., Stratford, Conn., Colonie, N.Y., Miami Beach, Fla., and Milford, Mass., Police Departments; and the Connecticut State Police. (this information was found in an article on http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-14-2008/0004774504&EDATE=)
Chiang Rai, Thailand, Thailand
Wan* was supposed to die. She had been sold to be a human sacrifice to a village seeking gold. That sounds awful, and it is, but her story is even sadder than that. At age 8, her brother-in-law forced her to come and look after his children. Wan knew he wasn’t a nice man from her sister, who had been forced into marriage with him. It wasn’t very long before he raped her. And not too long after that, he sold her to a village who believed a human sacrifice would help them find gold. Thanks to a brave man who rescued Wan, she ended up, broken and afraid, on the doorstep of HOR.
Belville, Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa
A neighbor witnessed the incident and when child was reported missing, led police to the trafficker's location. After denying it, woman admits she had taken the girl to be sold into a marriage. She led police to where the girl had been locked in a dark room for a day.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
David Pierre pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor on July 15, 2009 and was sentenced in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2009 before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 10 years in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release as a sex offender Jenna Linden pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor on August 13, 2009 and was sentenced in federal court on September 23, 2009 before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 5 years in prison to be followed by 3 years
Birmingham, MI, United States
The police would not prosecute the men for trafficking because at the time there was no federal law against trafficking, kidnapping, or rape and the case was too late to prosecute.
Nigeria-Ghana-Italy, Nigeria
The female victim was trafficked from Nigeria through Ghana to Italy, where she was forced to have sex with more than 25 men a day. If she resisted, her “madam” would beat her with a belt, starve her, and threaten to deport her. She would rotate through Turin, Rome, and Milan, enduring mental torture and physical abuse at each base. Anita’s traffickers raped her several times, and she underwent several crude abortions. The victim survived, but some of her friends died in the ordeal.
Morocco, Morocco
The female victim from Morocco signed a contract she couldn’t read and set off to earn money as a cleaner in Cyprus. But when she arrived, an agent told her she was going to work in a cabaret, have drinks with customers, and have sex with them if they wanted. She resisted and asked to be sent home but was told she had to repay her travel expenses first. She was raped. It was her first sexual experience. She knew if she returned to Morocco, her brother, a strict Muslim, would kill her for having sex before marriage and for damaging the family’s reputation.
Glendale, California, United States
Christopher Coleman, 23, and Murphy Lettleton, 32 The girls were forced into prostitution and were told to do whatever was asked of them, They solicited sex for $50 and $60 for other sexual acts, working mostly in the San Fernando Valley, she said. But the girls mostly spent their nights sleeping in a Glendale hotel room The men kept the girls’ earnings, but they bought the girls shoes, clothes and video games and provided them a place to sleep, Razana said. So they stayed with the men because they were afraid to be alone and sleeping on the streets.
West Seattle, WA, United States
A prostitution sting in December 2008 led to the arrest of 6 men, who allegedly prostituted 13 girls and women. One girl was at least 15yrs old at the time. It is alleged that the men used violence and coercion, forcing the girls to walk the street, and give the men their earnings. Five of the men have plead guilty to state related prostitution charges, in order to avoid federal human trafficking charges. The sixth has yet to plead out or face trial.
Syracuse, New York, United States
From news reports by the Syracuse Post Standard, February 27, 2009, and April 20, 2009. "[Tashia] Edwards, 33, of 203 W. Corning Ave., is accused of forcing a 16-year-old girl to have sex with men. The money she was paid was supposedly to reimburse her for the girl spending the night at Edwards' home. According to police reports, the girl voluntarily stayed at Edwards' home in December, but when she tried to leave the next day, Edwards wouldn't let her go. Instead, Edwards told the girl that she owed Edwards money for food and the room for the night, the victim told police. Edwards physically restrained the girl to keep her from leaving, court records said. Edwards took the girl's clothing, leaving her naked, and threatened the girl with physical harm if the girl did not engage in various sex acts with several males to pay off her expenses, court papers said. " -Syracuse Post Standard, 2/27/2009 and 4/20/2009
Chota, Peru, Peru
No information is know other than the 16 year old was forced to be a prostitute and dance in a club for 2 years
Jersey City, NJ, United States
Allen Brown, aka "Prince", age 47 funded a lavish lifestyle by running a trafficking ring for almost two decades. He recruited women all over N.J. from Camden and Philadelphia to Atlantic City to Jersey City, where he lived. He enticed women with promises of money and a better life.The women had their cell phones and identification taken and were locked inside houses or apartments and not allowed to leave or contact others on the outside. Brown had anywhere from 2 - 20 women working for him each night since 1990, forcing them to bring in a set amount of cash each day, usually from $500-$1000. If the women didn't meet his demands, they were sometimes beaten or denied the drugs he kept many addicted to. Six others were also indicted for helping run the ring or for laundering money. Some of these were Brown's relatives, including his mother, niece and nephew. Annie Cooper, 41, of Jersey City, pleaed guilty last month to first-degree racketering. Officers say she acted as the women's boss, enforcing Brown's house rules.
Agave area, Volta Region, Ghana, Ghana
The Adzimu shrine priestess and owners admittedly practice a form of slavery commonly called trokosi, but called customary or ritual servitude by the Ghana government. It is a combination of sexual and labor slavery and somewhat akind to servile marriage, because the girls are thought to be married to the gods of the shrine and sex with the priest or elders of the shrine is considered sacred because his (their) genitals are devoted to the deities of the shrine. About 16 girls are believed to be in bondage within the confines of the shrine, with about 600 living outside the shrine in involuntary subservience to the shrine. This practice permits girls to live outside the shrine under certain strict conditions and controls, including payment of a very expensive sacrifice at the annual festival. Adzimu is a head shrine having jurisdiction over three others.
Dallas, TX, United States
Ms. Abrams and Mr. Bell, the woman and man involved, are being charged on felony counts for sexual performance of a child, as well as organized crime.
Dallas, Texas, United States
Most recently, two incidents in the beginning of 2008 brought DMST into the public eye. The first involved the arrest of two minors, one charged with prostitution and the other with compelling prostitution. One of the 13 year old girls was detained for soliciting a date of prostitution from an undercover Vice officer. The CE/HRVTU was notified and an investigation was initiated. During the investigation another 13 year old was identified. The 13 year old who was arrested for prostitution was placed at Letot, a public-private organization that partners with the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Department. The 13 year old later (placed at Letot) told police she was invited to the nightclub and compelled into prostitution by her friend, the other 13-year-old recovered from the nightclub. The second 13-year-old was arrested for compelling prostitution as a result of her actions (Recruiting, Directing, etc.). Reports suggest that an adult associated with the 13-year-old is involved.19 Confirmed through an interview with the DPD, CE/HRVTU an adult female was arrested and charged with Felony Child Endangerment related to the exploitation of both girls. The adult female was the aunt of the 13 year old who was arrested for compelling prostitution.
queens, new york, United States
The girl left her home in Brooklyn on Jan. 10 and encountered someone identified only as Drama who offered to find her a job dancing at parties and introduced her to Ms. Brown, the police said. Ms. Brown told the girl that she had been “purchased” for $500 and had to work off her debt as a prostitute. She introduced Detective Taylor as her husband, the police said, although they described the couple as boyfriend and girlfriend. Detective Taylor, a 14-year-member of the Police Department assigned to the Housing Bureau, who was suspended without pay upon his arrest, set prices of $40 for oral sex and $80 for intercourse and instructed the girl to give her age as 19, investigators said. The girl was taken to a party in a barbershop, where she was forced to have sex for money that was then turned over to the suspects, the police said. That routine was repeated in the following days as the couple drove her and other prostitutes to other parties in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn, investigators said. At one point, the suspects complained that the girl was not earning enough money, the police said, and Ms. Brown slammed the girl’s head to the floor and other prostitutes hit her. Detective Taylor threatened the girl that if she did not earn more, he would force her into streetwalking, the police said.
dayton,ohio, United States
local vice officers working in Harrison Twp. got tips that a woman had started using her minor daughter in prostitution at local hotels. Undercover officers went to a hotel on North Dixie Drive at East Siebenthaler Avenue at around 8 p.m. Monday, April 21, and contacted a man later identified as Melvin. "The male there acted as an organizer," Plummer (Montgomery County Sheriff's Dept.) said. "He told them which room the girl was in, what services she was good at and how much she charged. He accepted money, and pointed them to the room." The officers arrested Melvin and White. Officers found a small amount of marijuana in their possession, Plummer said.
meridian, idaho, United States
Winberry was arrested in Prosser, Washington after fleeing from Idaho police. His warrant was for Lewd Conduct with a Minor: Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Possession of Sexually Explicit Material and Inducing a Person under 18 into Prostitution. Winberry was being held on the warrant which has a $1,000,000 bond. Watson and McKeehan were booked into the Ada County Jail for Lewd Conduct with a Minor, Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Possession of Sexually Exploitative Material and Inducing a Person Under 18 into Prostitution. McKeehan pleaded guilty to two counts of felony injury to a child: one count of giving a teen meth, and then the second charge is for having sexual contact with a teen and letting a man watch. She also agreed to testify against Watson, her ex-boyfriend. In December of 2008, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison but will spend 6 months getting treatment in an Idaho Department of Correction Facility before the judge decides if she will serve the rest of her 10 years behind bars or be placed on probation. In November 2008, Watson and Winberry pleaded guilty. Watson pleaded guilty to charges of sex abuse of a minor under the age of 16 and felony injury to child. Winberry pleaded guilty to two charges of lewd conduct with a minor. Both could face life sentences when their sentences are decided. sources: www.idahostateman.com www.idahopress.com
Toledo, Ohio, United States
Two girls, ages 15 and 14, came home from school as many teens do each day. They did homework, finished their chores and then asked a common request from their parents - the two girls wanted to walk to a nearby Wendy's Restaurant to grab a couple of frozen desserts. The restaurant was less than a mile from their homes, so their parents had no reason to deny the request. The two young girls, both good students and trusted by their parents, set off on their quest just before evening. On the way there, a car pulled up next to the girls and one of them thought she recognized the driver - Deric Willoughby - as the father of a classmate. The mistaken identity led her and her cousin to trust Willoughby enough to get into his car to allow him to drive them to the Wendy's. They were grateful for the ride. The ride, however, was the beginning of their captivity. Willoughby drove to his home, just a couple of miles across town from the teens' homes. He and his accomplices gave them new names (Ambrosia and Heavenly) and fitted them for skimpy outfits after telling them that they would be forced to have sex with men for money. Willoughby used his connections to arrange for a driver to pick up the teens and take them from Ohio and across state lines to truck stops in Michigan where the girls could easily be sold for an evening's entertainment. Both of the girls were forced to service multiple customers. The girls were kept at Willoughby's house during the day and pimped at night. One night, something happened that Willoughby wasn't expecting. One of the truck drivers called the police after being disgusted that such young girls were being offered to truckers at his stop. The call alerted the local sheriffs department which immediately responded. The entire crew was stopped and questioned, save for the 15-year-old, who was being raped in nearby truck. The 14-year-old gave officers a fake name and told them she was over 18. Something about her demeanor prompted sheriff's deputies to arrest her and send Willoughby and his crew packing. Information about this incident came from ABC News which did an in-depth report about this case in Ohio: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5382645&page=1
Oakland, CA, United States
Victim was on probation and under the care of a temporary guardian after a history of sexual exploitation. Minor was on probation for charges and arrests associated with prostitution. Her guardian requested her release to service provider.
alameda county, CA, United States
Arrested for prostitution, but under the TVPA a child under the age of 18 cannot legally consent to sex, therefor this child should not have been legally charged with prostitution.
San Francisco, CA, United States
She was arrested as a perpetrator of prostitution as a juvenile then went through these systems: Alameda County Probation and Juvenile Justice Court. The TVPA passed in the year 2000 declares that all underage victims who are prostituted are trafficking victims.
San Pablo, CA, United States
Victim is 16 yr old girl on probation under the care of a temporary guardian after a history of sexual exploitation. Minor was on probation for charges and arrests associated with prostitution. Her guardian requested her release to service provider.
San Pablo, CA, United States
Victim was arrested for prostitution after being run by at least two pimps and referred to service provider. She had on and off involvement with pimps and drug dealing before becoming fully immersed in service provider programs. Finally, picked up by a sweep operation in San Pablo and taken to juvenile hall.
ward avenue honolulu, United States
Higa understands the frightful reality better than most, because she herself was trafficked from China under the false pretense that she was going to a women's business school. When she arrived at a hotel to meet an instructor that would accompany her to the U.S., she was brutally beaten, raped and robbed of her belongings and personal documents. "Think about a girl who's been raped so many times she can't even recognize it as rape anymore, it's just part of her life," she said. Higa, like so many other modern-day slaves, was brought to Hawai'i and forced to work in a brothel on Ward Avenue. If she did not make enough money for the pimps and mama-sans, she was not allowed to eat, drink or sleep.
Charlotte, NC, United States
Jorge Flores-Rojas, 44, an undocumented Mexican national trafficked two illegal minors between Charlotte, NC and Washington DC, one 17 year old Mexican girl and one 16 year old Honduran girl. He physically assaulted and abused the 16 year old Honduran girl, in order to make her perform the sexual acts. Jorge Flores-Rojas paid other persons to smuggle these victims from Mexico into the United States.
West Seattle, WA, United States
The suspect was a 23 year old man who forced a 12 year old girl into prostitution. He met her thorugh a mutual friend on January 9th and invited her to hang out. Police said he had unprotected sex with her that night and several times over the next several days. When the girl failed to return home the night of the 9th, her family filed a missing persons report. During the five days, the two stayed at the homes of several women who described themselves as the suspect's fiances. She was ordered by the man to walk the streets of South King County to work as a prostitute and the man allegedly told her the exact price to charge for each sex act. She was also told not to tell her age to any customers. One of the suspect's "financees" became angry about the girl and called a phone number she found in a school binder that the girl had left at her home. The person who answered the phone turned out to be the 12 year old girl's sister. The "fiancee" told the sister where the missing girl was in downtown Seattle. Police said relatives found the girl Sunday night with the man in downtown Seattle. The relatives took the girl to Harborview Medical Center where a rape examination was performed and then went to the Seattle police department's West Precinct and notified police they had found her. After talking to the girl, the police found the suspect on a West Seattle street. According to detectives, the man's acquaintances say he has befriended other young girls, raping them as well as coercing them into prostitution.
Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA, United States
Jeffrey Fisher was arrested for promoting prostitution, witness tampering and eluding police. He had met Stephanie, a 14 year old girl on an online chat room. They quickly started a sexual relationship. In July on 2006, she agreed to work as a prostitute. Though she pulled in nearly $500 a day working along the stretch of Aurora known to prostitutes and police as "the track", she said the money wasn't nearly enough for Fisher. He gambled away the money she earned, beat her if he was unhappy, called her names and followed her, demanding that she work harder. Within months the beatings worsened and escalated into death threats. She begged police to take her to jail so she could get away from Fisher. She went to Children of the Night in Los Angeles last February and stayed about 3 months - until she was desperate to see Fisher. In May, after returning to Aurora, she's finally had enough. She helped the Seattle Police Department Vice Unit go after Fisher. He was finally arrested after fleeing to California.
Darnestown, Maryland, United States
George Udeozor, 52, formerly of Darnestown, Md., was sentenced today for holding a 14-year-old Nigerian girl in involuntary servitude, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Udeozor to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Udeozor was also ordered to pay $110,249.60 in restitution to the victim. ccording to his plea agreement, in September 1996, George Udeozor traveled to Nigeria and, using the passport of his oldest daughter, smuggled a 14 year old Nigerian girl to his home in Maryland. He and his then-wife, Dr. Adaobi Stella Udeozor, used the girl as an unpaid domestic servant and child care provider for their six children for approximately five years, from October 1996 to Oct. 28, 2001. The victim cooked, cleaned the home, did laundry and took care of the Udeozor children. During that time, the victim was physically abused. The Udeozors did not send the victim to school and did not pay the victim or her family for her work. At times, the victim also worked in Adaobi Stella Udeozor’s medical offices, for which she did not receive compensation. The Udeozors compelled the victim’s labor by inflicting verbal and physical abuse on her, including when she purportedly did not do her work correctly. They threatened the victim with arrest and deportation if she left the home. Additionally, from sometime after the fall of 1997 when the victim was just 15 years old, until the time George Udeozor left the United States in late 1999 to return to Nigeria, George Udeozor had sexual relations with the victim in the Udeozor home. He warned the victim not to tell anyone about those episodes.
McKinney, Texas, United States
According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: FARLEY approached an undercover agent in an online chat room and began talking about engaging in sex with the agent's 10 year-old daughter. (There was no actual child.) Over the course of several months, he continued to ask about having sex with the child, and suggested that the undercover agent molest the child first to "get her prepared" for him. The defendant made arrangements to meet the agent and the child at a local restaurant on May 15, 2007. After dinner, the defendant planned to go to the agent's house and molest the child. FARLEY was arrested as soon as his plane landed in Atlanta. He had a laptop computer with him which contained approximately 100 images of child pornography.
norwich, ny, United States
Both Sacco and O'Connor where arrested, tried, and convicted. Sacco was convicted for sex trafficking, producing child pornography, and transporting a minor over state lines for sexual acts. He was sentenced to Life in prison. O'Connor was convicted for sex trafficking and producing child pornography. She was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.
Honolulu, HI, United States
Bronson Iseri, 21; Iseri was pimping his 17 year old girlfriend on craigslist and pocketing the money she received. He is charged with rape and promoting prostitution but is denying the rape charge.
Miami, FL, United States
In November 2008, federal prosecutors charged five people with sex trafficking. The victims included young girls as young as 14 who were smuggled from Mexico and forced into prostitution in various homes and brothels in Miami-Dade County and across South Florida. They were beaten and kept in “stash houses” where they were imprisoned until being shipped out to private homes.
San Francisco, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim. In Oakland, California 5 arrests were made at the Hilton Hotel where Police Solicited sex from prostitution ads they found on Craig's list. Those arrested could face federal or state charges based on their allegations but they are still awaiting trial.
Detroit, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim
Las Vegas, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim. Those arrested could face federal or state charges based on their allegations but they are still awaiting trial.
Houston, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim
Atlanta, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim. Those arrested could face federal or state charges based on their allegations but they are still awaiting trial.
Boston, United States
The FBI and local law enforcement agents orchestrated a nationwide sting. Undercover cops posed as Jons and arrested prostitutes soliciting sex at bars/nightclubs, casinos, truck stops, and Internet sites such as Craig’s list. The sting operations were used to determine whether or not the girls were less than 18 years of age. If so, they were taken into custody and treated as a trafficking victim.
Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Nine people were arrested in a Santa Rosa prostitution sting and an underage girl was taken into protective custody after she was brought to an upscale hotel by a 19-year-old man suspected of pimping her, authorities said.
Houston, Texas, United States
The operation involved local law enforcement in 29 cities across the country working with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Houston police Officers Emma Rodriguez and Catherine Clogher, of Juvenile Division's sex crimes unit, helped arrest the two local men accused of being pimps to three teenage girls.
Northern Virginia, U.S.A., United States
The FBI established the Innocence Lost Initiative in 2003 to fight child sex trafficking. To date, the work of the Innocence Lost Initiative has resulted in: 265 indictments; 365 convictions on a combination of state and federal charges; 46 criminal enterprises disrupted and 36 successfully dismantled; and Substantial sentences of convicted pimps, including two life sentences and several sentences ranging in length from 30 to 40 years. Efforts have led to the recovery of 577 child victims. The most recent sting, in Northern Virginia, resulted in the rescue of 47 children, many of whom had been reported missing.
Tampa, FL, United States
Five victims from Tampa and one from St. Petersburg were held victims of human trafficking and forced to work in prostitution and advertised on the internet. Some of the locations included Nebraska Avenue motels and casios.. All the victims were 16 or 17 years old. Four of the six victims were identified as endangered runaway children by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
New Zealand, New Zealand
One brothel owner was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment, one was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. The secretary of the latter owner was sentenced to 180 hours of community service, and the client was sentenced to one to two years' imprisonment.
Dallas, TX, United States
Marlin Williams has been convicted of human trafficking and is due for his sentencing in November, 2008. He could be sentenced for 46 months up to 54 years.
El Dorado Hills, California, United States
Rishi Sanwal, 23 year old. Lived in El Dorado hills with his parents in a multi-million dollar mansion located at 3105 Hopkins Place in El Dorado Hills. On March 18 Kacie was seen entering Sanwal’s maroon colored Hummer outside a Safeway in the Stonegate Village near Francisco and Green Valley roads. Sanwal then used force, fraud, and coercion to cause a 17-year- old girl to engage in prostitution. Sanwal gave the victim the name “Amy” and used that name when he posted ads on the Craigslist erotic services section. He took the victim from El Dorado to the Bay area, before returning to Rocklin, CA and posting another Craigslist advertisement. Then once again they returned to the Bay Area.
Tigard, Oregon, United States
Shanelle Nichole Carlson is a 22 year old, white woman who put up sexually explicit ads of a 15 year old girl on Craiglist. "Nikki," as she was referred to in ads, was in the custody of Carlson with the permission of her mother. After the latest ad was put on Craiglist showing "Nikki" in sex acts with two different "johns," Tigard police aprehended Carlson. Carlson had been staying with the minor at a Motel Six where they had been staying for a few days.
Hayward, United States
Trafficker Aaron Pierre Brown Aka Mac Prozac, aka Prozac, aka Pro, aka Pierre, aka Daddy, aka Jamar P. Adanadus, aka Jamar Adanandus, aka Jamar Pierre Adanandus. Age 28, lived in Hayward, CA Indicted for pimping out three underage girls in both California and Arizona. Brown bought lingerie for the girls, took pictures of them, and then advertised them on Craigslist. Brown spent time with the girls in his apartment on Civic Center Drive and in San Jose Hotels. It was reported by one of the girls that she was frequently beaten and had had her nose broken from one beating. He reportedly used such items such as cords and wire hangers. According to the complaint, Brown encouraged at least one victim to read a book he authored which contained rules the minor had to obey while working as a prostitute. Victims alleged that Brown controlled everything and would force victims to work on “tracks,” in his apartment and in hotels throughout California and in Arizona. Brown also had unprotected sex with at least one of the girls, giving him a son in January
Sheffield, UK, United Kingdom
The 15-year-old victim came to Britain from Lithuania for a summer job, expecting to work in a restaurant or café. She was traveling with a man from Lithuania who took her passport after arriving in Heathrow airport and introduced her to Shaban Maka, Ilir Barjami, Xhevahir Pisha, and Lina Yunel. She was then sold and taken to Birmingham to work in a brothel. She escaped, but was taken again to Coventry, and sold again to Pisha to paid 3,000 Pounds for her. She was taken to a brothel in Leicester, where she was told to repay him by working as a prostitute. She ran away again, and was once again captured and taken to London, where she was sold several times again until she was finally taken to Sheffield. There, Barjami paid 1,500 Pounds for her, and kept her in his apartment for a time before taking her to a sauna to get her work. In total, the ordeal lasted 3 months.
Des Moines, WA, United States
Two Seattle men, Joseph Olive (22) and Turomne Washington (19) coerced two 17-year-old Bellingham girls to work as prostitutes in Des Moines. Police said Olive gave one girl a pair of high-heel shoes and ordered her to make him some money. Washington is accused of telling the other girl to do the same. After earning $50 by having sex with strangers twice, one girl called the mother of the other girl, police said. Court papers say the other girl had sex with about 14 people and turned over all her earnings to Olive and Washington.
Denver, Colorado - actual location not disclosed, United States
After a two-year-investigation, Denver police said they have busted a major prostitution ring that employed 50 female prostitutes, including children. Investigators found more than $30,000 cash, and the sex trafficking ring was raking in more than $1,000,000 a year since 2005. Police said the ring operated not from Tang's home but from an undisclosed location in Denver. Neighbors noticed that "something" wasn't right with the hours she was keeping. Tang is being held on nine felony counts of pimping, procurement, pandering of a child and keeping a place of prostitution. Police believe she recruited underage girls from other states. Todd Allen Powellis being held in the Denver city jail for investigation of pimping, conspiracy and other prostitution-related offenses.
San Diego, Ca, United States
Quoted from the Imperial Valley News: "According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio, who is prosecuting the case with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Black admitted that he recruited and enticed a juvenile to work as a prostitute for his financial benefit between August 15, 2007 and October 11, 2007. Black admitted that he took photographs of the juvenile wearing lingerie and in provocative poses that were then placed in ads posted on the “Craigslist” website to solicit dates. The dates, however, were prostitution “johns” who responded to the ads and made arrangements to have sex with the juvenile in exchange for payment. Black drove the juvenile to and from hotels, where she performed the prearranged acts of prostitution. Black further admitted that he received all of the proceeds the juvenile received in exchange for acts of prostitution. http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=1
Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC, Canada, United States
Adam Jermaine Ingram, 20, and Kevin Roy Woods, 18, forced two Canadian girls, ages 13 and 14, to have sex with them and others as they trafficked the girls between Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. The girls were in foster homes when they were abducted by Woods and Ingram. The 13-year-old told authorities that two Americans bought her from a Vancouver man for $3,000 on Dec. 12. The FBI said the men intended to take both girls to San Diego and make them work in an escort agency. Along the way, they stopped in Bellingham and Seattle and forced the girls to have sex with them and with other men.
Presidio, Texas, United States
Jorge Carrasco Sanchez trafficked a woman to the US on April 29, 2002. Sanchez met the 16-year old victim in Ojinaga, Mexico, and brought her to the US. She was sexually assaulted by Sanchez, and he also threatened to kill her.
Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States
From 2000 to 2005 Jimmie Lee Jones, also known as “Mike Spade,” conspired to force six victims to engage in commercial sex acts. Jones knew that two of the victims were minors. He recruited young women at colleges, stores, events, and restaurants saying he represented a successful modeling and casting agency- called either Candy Girl Casting or Dime Piece Entertainment. An associate, names Michelle, a woman who had found modeling work would recruit victims as potential models. After the victims became comfortable around him, he told them it was necessary that they work in strip clubs as dancers, because they needed to be more comfortable with their bodies before they could be models. Five of the victims signed contracts stating they would pay him between $300 and $450 every week for 52 weeks. The contracts states that Jones would find them work modeling or in music videos. He also required that the women give him their social security number. Jones then became physically and verbally abusive. Under these threats, Jones forced the victims to travel, primarily to Florida, Alabama, and Indiana, to engage in prostitution.
Hartford, CT, United States
On June 14, 2007 Dennis Paris was found guilty for operating a sex trafficking ring. He was found guilty of four counts of sex trafficking, one count of conspiracy, money laundering, and 13 counts of using interstate facilities to promote and conduct a prostitution business. Nine other defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to charges of sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. One of these co-defendants, Shanaya Hicks, was sentenced to 46 months in prison. Brian Forbes, another defendant in the case, was sentenced to 156 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $16,339 in restitution to the victims.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
In 2001, Victor Nikolayevich Virchenko, Pavel Vasilievich Agafonov, and Tony Kennard each pleaded guilty to transporting minors for illegal sexual activity, six counts of forced labor, six counts of immigration fraud, and coercion to perform in a strip club through a scheme that relied on threats, isolation, and confiscation of passports, visas, and plane tickets. Virchenko was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by deportation. This was the first case to be prosecuted under TVPA.
Atlanta, GA, United States
The arrests were made as part of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All three men were indicted in January 2004 on multiple charges of conspiracy, sex trafficking, importing and harboring aliens for the purpose of prostitution, alien smuggling, and interstate transportation of illegal aliens. Jose and Juan Rojas pleaded guilty. Jose was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years supervised release. Juan was sentenced to 71 months in prison and three years supervised release. Raul remains a fugitive.
Austin, Texas, United States
Lopez-Torres was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for importation of aliens for immoral purposes, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a stolen firearm.
King County, Seattle, WA, United States
Steven Lorenzo J. Leonard, 23, befriended and coerced a 12-year-old girl into prostitution. The girl told police that a mutual friend introduced her to Leonard on Jan. 9 and he invited her to hang out, then had unprotected sex with her that night and several times in the ensuing days. The two stayed at the homes of several women who described themselves as his fiancees. Leonard also made the girl walk the street in downtown Seattle, performing tricks (sexual acts) for "johns," then made her turn over the money to Leonard, her new pimp. Steven Leonard has an extensive record; he has been convicted of escape, possessing stolen property, theft, obstructing a public officer and animal cruelty.
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Hans Gouw and Harjanto Komala recruited young women, ages 16 to 23, to come to the U.S. to work as exotic dancers and prostitutes. Once the victims arrived in the U.S. they were told they had to work for Gouw for at least one year. Gouw then confiscated their passports, and kept the women monitored at all times (when they were at work or at the common house where they were kept when not working). Komala would identify women in Indonesia, and send Gouw their picture, as well as information about height, age, and weight. Komala, Gouw, and other associates then recruited the women to work in the U.S.
Austin, Texas, United States
Maricela Uresti-Martinez and Violeta Juanita De Hoyos-Hernandez recruited and trafficked the victims (minors from Mexico) to come to the U.S. from November 2002 to May 2003. Uresti-Martinez recruited the women, saying that they could come to the U.S. and would work for a short time in her restaurant to repay their $1500 smuggling fee. After reaching Austin, the victims were held against their will, and forced to engage in prostitution to repay their fee. They were threatened to be killed if they did not do as they were told.
Collier County, FL, United States
Jose Tecum trafficked Maria Choz from her home in Guatemala through Mexico and Arizona to his home in Southern Florida. The victim was forced to work on Tecum’s tomato-picking crew during the day, and required to give Tecum her earnings. At night, she was sexually assaulted by Tecum, who destroyed her identification cards.
savannah,ga, United States
Specific details unknown. Only information known is that a neighbor took the child to a local hospital because she was complaining of stomach pain. By this time the girl was 13 years old. It was soon discovered that she was 6 months pregnant. She had an emergency C-section ahd gave birth to a baby boy.
Cape Coral, FL, United States
Specific details unknown. Only information known is that a neighbor took the child to a local hospital because she was complaining of stomach pain. By this time the girl was 13 years old. It was soon discovered that she was 6 months pregnant. She had an emergency C-section ahd gave birth to a baby boy.
Lima, Peru, Peru
Police (DININCRI) is investigating the incident of a 13 year old girl who was raped and strangled in a parking lot. Details of the investigation show that the case is connected with sex trafficking.
Asheville, NC, United States
A mother was selling her 12 yr old daughter as a prostitute to obtain drug money in Asheville NC.
Jackson, Wyoming, United States
Jacobo Dominguez Vazquez, Jose Luis Chavez, and Braulio Anceto Velez trafficked a 13-year old Mexican girl to the United States specifically for prostitution. She was brought to Jackson, Wyoming in March 2004 with the promise of a better life in the United States. After her arrival, the traffickers told her she would be forced to have sex for money, in order to pay her smuggling fee. The men then solicited business for the girl, keeping all the profits and operating out of local motels in March and April, 2004. The men charged $80 to $100 for each sex act. On April 18, 2004, a customer complained about the price, and called the police. The three men, along with a fourth suspect, Armando Salas, left Jackson with the victim for Phoenix, AZ. Eight months later they returned to Jackson.
San Antonio, Texas, United States
Isabel Consuelo Ochoa and her daughters Consuelo Pilar Ochoa and Maria de Jesus Ochoa trafficked young girls from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to San Antonio, Texas to work as prostitutes. The Ochoas recruited girls, saying they would work as escorts, but would not be required to have sex with the men. The three known victims in the case are 15, 17, and 22 years old. After arrival, the Ochoas told victims they had to work five years as prostitutes to pay back the money spent to come to the U.S. A male associate of the Ochoas threatened the victims with a gun, telling them that should the girls leave he would find their families in Mexico and have them killed.
Minneapolis, United States
The trafficker has a history of sex trafficking and violent crimes, was charged in December 2006 with recruiting a 16-year-old Rogers girl into a life of prostitution and stripping jobs. On Monday, U.S. District Judge David Doty ordered McNeal to spend more than 24 years in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime on supervised release. That made McNeal the first casualty in U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose's year-old initiative to crack down on human trafficking.
Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
20-year-old coerced 14-year-old into running away introduced her to drugs and forced her into prostitution Accused: Sandra Panecka age 20.
Aboard a tourist boat on the Amazon River, in the State of Amazonas, Brazil, Brazil
A man from Georgia in the United States, was accused of trafficking young women/offering sex with underage girls to customers paying to go on his fishing tours of the Amazon basin. His ex-wife was president of the fishing operation. The boat was described as a high-end river cruiser popular with wealthy American fishers. The four Brazilian plaintiffs (one was aged 12 at time of exploitation) reported that the man used a combination of promises, alcohol, and drugs to lure them onto the fishing boat. Once aboard, they were coerced into performing sexual acts with the man and his customers. Brazilian prosecutors state that there is both photographic and video evidence including “numerous images of Brazilian women in sexual poses within the vessels and in the company of foreign tourists.” It is described that the man used his agents and employees to recruit customers in the US to engage in such ‘sex tourism’. Court documents from Brazil and the US suggest that customers included members of a group that are currently under investigation for human trafficking, prostitution and child sex tourism. The man from Georgia sent his employees into the local community, and nightclubs along the Amazon to recruit young girls. In return, they were reported to have been paid a ‘modest’ sum of money. One report states: “The case is noteworthy because it is the first time that the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) will be used by alleged victims of trafficking to seek damages from a sex tour operation.” An example of the court transcript can be viewed here: http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/_news/2011/04/30/6562102-brazil-prosecutes-schair-co-for-running-house-of-prostitution A YouTube newscast showing the girls being interviewed, as well as footage of the boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENcxcxC2gk&feature=player_embedded
Luton, England, United Kingdom
-Police arrested the defendants on various dates between Dec 2007 and May 2008. -a Turkish national and naturalised British citizen pleaded guilty on 22nd of September to two counts of controlling a brothel. He was given nine years for trafficking within the United Kingdom for sexual exploitation, to be served consecutively with five years for controlling prostitution for gain; five years for controlling a child prostitute; four years for the first count of controlling a brothel for the use of prostitution; four years for the second count of controlling a brothel for the use of prostitution, leading to total imprisonment of 14 years. -a Slovakian national, was found guilty of trafficking into the UK. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. -a Czech Republic national, was found guilty of trafficking into the UK for sexual exploitation. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. -a Kosovon national, was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years for trafficking within the UK and five years, to be served concurrently, for controlling a child prostitute. -another Turkish national was found guilty on 3.11.08 and sentenced to two and a half years for controlling a child prostitute, and 15 months, to be served concurrently, for controlling a brothel for the use of prostitution. -an Albanian national was found guilty and sentenced on 4.11.08 to three years for controlling a prostitute for gain. Charges of unlawful wounding and assault occasioning actual bodily harm will lie on file.
wildwood, new jersey, United States
Bianchi's case is among more than 50 that have been brought under a largely untested 2003 law that puts Americans accused of preying on children overseas on trial in U.S. courtrooms. Several boys from Moldova were brought to Philadelphia to testify in 2007. They testified that Bianchi assaulted them in small boarding houses where he stayed during his trips. the Moldovan boys testified that Bianchi invited them to have dinner or go bowling with them, and before long made sexual advances. One boy said Bianchi raped him, while another said he was assaulted while he was intoxicated. Another said that Bianchi asked to sleep with him in his bed in his family's small apartment -- and that he fled when Bianchi started fondling him.
cleveland, ohio, United States
The evidence presented at trial established that in June, 2007, FLINT and co-defendant James Roney brought two victims, a 15-year-old girl and an adult woman from Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit for the purpose of making money through prostitution and striptease dancing, and for the purpose of having sex with them. While in Detroit, defendant FLINT instructed the victims that they would have to engage in commercial sexual acts for money, including sexual intercourse and oral sex. Flint was sentenced with 135 months in prison.
Norcross, Georgia, United States
The defendants in this case allegedly courted girls as young as 17 from Mexico, smuggled them into the United States under pretense and eventually conspired to transport them across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. According to federal Criminal Indictment NO. 1:08-CR-317-CC, five women were smuggled into the US, harbored as aliens, and had hidden from them the fact that they would be prostituted to repay the group for smuggling fees and other expenses. The indictment states that the Rugerios and Hernandez "targeted young, vulnerable women and teenagers with limited resources, and used violence, sexual assaults, threats of violence, threats of violence to family members, and threats of deportation and imprisonment, to compel the victims to engage in prostitution."
Oakland, California, United States
Oakland Police department arrested the victim. Law enforcement from Arizona was also involved. They sent the victim back to California after a stay in the hospital.
Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
Paul Raymond Green, a/k/a “PJ,” age 23, of Washington, D.C., arranged on two separate occasions to provide minor victims to an acquaintance of Green’s who was paying to have sex with the victims. On both occasions “dippers” or “wets” (cigarettes dipped in phencyclidine liquid known as PCP), were available in the hotel room where the girls were brought to have sex. Green also sold cocaine to that same individual.
Moldova, Moldova, Republic of
Defendant(Anthony Mark Bianchi) was first taken into federal custody in this matter on January 11, 2006. The initial Indictment, filed on January 12, 2006, charged him with various offenses arising out of his travel to Eastern Europe, where he allegedly had illicit sexual relations with two underage boys and attempted to seduce a third. According to the Indictment, Defendant’s modus operandi was to have his co-conspirator and translator, Ion Gusin, introduce him to the boys. He would shower them with gifts and treats to induce them to engage in illicit sexual relations and then compensate them in United States dollars.
Glen Garden Drive apartment complex in Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Using drugs and fake friendships, seven Varrio Central gang members, ages 15-19, lured runaways and other underage girls with troubled families into a prostitution ring, which operated out of a Glen Garden Drive apartment complex. The victims, some as young as 12 years old, were forced to perform sexual services for $50. If a girl declined, she was beat, raped, and her family threatened. A fifteen year-old girl also allegedly recruited the victims by going to their homes, posing as their friend, and pretending to pick them up to go to the movies or shopping.
Miami, FL, United States
In 2007, a security guard at a Miami middle school, was indicted. The security guard met his 14-year-old victim through one of the students at the school. He began a sexual relationship and eventually forced the victim to sell her body. The victim remained under the security guard’s control until the day prior to his arrest, when the victim's mother located her and the victim returned home.
Seattle, WA, United States
Sean Jarae Hart, also known as Hush, has been charged in an 11-count indictment with sex trafficking of a child for transporting a young girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Between May 25 and June 5, 2006, Hart drove the young girl to various areas within Seattle and Everett for the purposes of prostitution. Also, from January-April 2006 Hart forced two women to travel between Washington and Nevada, to have them engage in prostitution and take their earnings. He was arrested in Oregan. Also charged in the indictment is Randy Wamon Ivey, who allegedly picked the girl up at Sea-Tac Airport on May 24 had her work for him as a prostitute. An unnamed co-conspirator arranged for the girl to fly from California to Seattle. Ivey is a fugitive.
Boston, MA, United States
Shaun Leoney, 26, of Dorchester, Mass.; Darryl Tavares, 24, of Revere, Mass.; Eddie Jones, 25, of Roxbury, Mass.; Rueben Porcher, 29, of Dorchester; Aaron Brooks, 23, of Quincy, Mass.; and Trueheart Peeples, 30, of Portland, Maine have been charged with sex trafficking of children, transportation of minors for the purpose of prostitution, and conspiracy. According to the indictment, between approximately February of 2001 and December of 2005, Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, Brooks and Peeples conspired with each other to transport adults and minors between states for prostitution, assisting each other, and ultimately profiting from each other’s endeavors. The defendants operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. The Indictment also alleges that Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, and Peeples trafficked minors for the purpose of prostitution.
Daly City, CA, United States
John France Gonzales Age: 23 former pharmacy technician Gonzales met the girl in 2000, when she was 10 years old and living in San Bruno with her aunt, whom Gonzales was dating, according to former defense attorney Jeffery Neubarth. Gonzales molested the girl for the first time when she was 12 and maintained his relationship with the girl for several years while she lived in San Bruno and with her grandmother in Healdsburg. Gonzales allegedly took the girl from her grandmother's home in August 2005 and told her that she could not return, eventually moving her into a bedroom at his parents' Daly City home in October 2005, according to prosecutors. The girl remained with Gonzales until October 2006 when Gonzales' parents' home was foreclosed on, forcing Gonzales to move out and return the girl to her family. A few weeks after returning home, she told members of her family of her ordeal. The victim, who prosecutors say initially went willingly to Gonzales' home, reportedly told authorities she and Gonzales had sexual relations more than 500 times in five counties. Gonzales held the girl captive in the basement of his parents’ Daly City home for 18 months. John Paule France Gonzales smuggled food into his locked room and disposed of the girl's feces in plastic bags to keep her hidden from his parents, prosecutors said. "He used threats to himself, to her and to her family members to either play upon her sympathies or scare her into having sex with him for years," McKowan said. "Did he put her in chains and lock her in a bedroom and never let her out? No," Pitt said. But "because of his perverted sexual assaults on her over time, she was scared. He threatened at various times to kill her, he threatened to kill her family and he threatened to kill himself if she left him."
Craivo,Romania, Romania
There were 4 traffickers, two in Craivo Dani and Tavi who befriened the two victims. Then Ana who was the trafficker at the Point of destination in Bologna, Italy. Then Stelu who organized the whole ring. Ana was also a victim of trafficking who turned trafficker.
Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Recruiters were two men who approached a vulnerable teenager on her way home from school and offered her a job, then raped her, drugged her, and transported her to South Africa in a coffin. Probably knew the community since they knew she was an orphan. Had a web of contacts in various countries of southern Africa. Used false promises as a lure at her point of vulnerability. Web address(es) of reports:www.stopthetraffik.org/what/casestudies.aspx#1
Burkina Faso, desert southwest of Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
The trafficker, simply known as “Tony” abandoned the girls in the desert when they refused his plans. He promised them to take them to visit a relative living in Germany, but when he got them to Burkina Faso, he told them they were there for prostitution. The other seven victims were in their late teens and twenties. They were found with an Edo-born driver at a nearby church along Seme border, by Immigration officers, following a tip-off from one of the villagers. These young women are from Delta State. They were promised job opportunities in Cotonou by one Sunday who was at large at the time of the report. The trafficker, who procured passports for the victims, paid for their fares to Cotonou hoping to join them later. The driver , who confirmed knowing the traffickers, had already arrived safely at an agreed point and was waiting to hand over the victims before the bubble burst. Yet another victim, who held a Nigerian standard passport, was repatriated from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam on January 24, for not being in possession of valid travel documents. Though the victim had a certificate of indigeneship of Abia State, she hails from Benin City, Edo State. It was also discovered that she came to Lagos in October 2005 and stayed in a hotel with the human trafficker for three months as he arranged and facilitated her journey to Holland. The victim claimed that James saw her off to the boarding gate of the aircraft, and collected the passport only to leave her with a duplicate copy and certificate of indigeneship of Abia State.
Jakarta (unknown), Indonesia
Indonesian and Malaysian police arrested four alleged members of a human trafficking syndicate following a joint two-month operation.(2006) A Malaysian businessman and three Indonesians were arrested for allegedly luring teenage girls from Jakarta to Malaysia through Borneo Island with the promise of jobs and then forcing them into the sex industry, The Jakarta Post reported. The group, who had been arrested earlier in the month, confessed to transporting 25 teens(girls, presumably).Achmad Rifai, head of the Jakarta city police women and children’s division, said the group, which was arrested earlier this month, had confessed to transporting 25 teenagers. This, they did by promising jobs in Jakarta as domestic workers to the victims, aged 14 to 17, but were then flown to West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo and taken across the border into Malaysia, sometimes using false travel documents.
Lobatse, Botswana
The suspects are believed to be part of an organised smuggling ring that has been trafficking illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan into Botswana. It is understood that the human trafficking operation in Botswana has contracts with small criminal rings and large scale organized criminals in Bangladesh and Pakistan who act as immigrant smuggling brokers to solicit individuals wanting to be smuggled out of their countries. “At the moment we are still trying to establish how they get into the country, where they come from and who helps them,” said Mathews Maduwane(Assistant Commissioner of Police and Deputy Director Criminal Investigations Department), adding that there were indications that some police officers, local labour consultants and Asian investors were part of the human smuggling web, but they had not been charged yet.
Reno, NV, United States
Juan Rico Doss received the mandatory sentence of life in prison. On June 26, 2006, a federal jury determined that Doss was guilty of two counts of sex trafficking of children, three counts of transporting minors into prostitution, one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and transporting minors into prostitution, and two counts of witness tampering. In April 2006, Doss' first trail was declared a mistrial after the younger victim refused to testify against Doss. It was determined that the witness had been influenced by Doss, which led to additional charges of witness tampering against Doss. Doss is one of the first in the nation to receive the mandatory life sentence pursuant to Section 3559(e), which calls for mandatory life imprisonment for repeated sex offenses against children. On Nov. 1, 2006, Judge Larson found that Doss’s previous conviction in the State of Nevada on charges of pandering of minors for the purpose of prostitution qualified as a prior sex offense under this statute. Doss' wife, Jacquay Quinn Ford, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for her role in the crimes. She cooperated with the government and testified against her husband.
Pasadena ISD High School, United States
FBI, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Pasadena Independent School District Police Department, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Project Safe Childhood (projectsafechildhood.gov). FBI took trafficker into custody after a 3-year investigation after a high school studen in Pasadena got off the bus and disappeared in September 2006.
Houston, Texas, United States
"Barry Lernard Davis, aka Sir Lewis, has been...[charged]with sex trafficking of a minor, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and coercion and enticement of yet another female to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, United States Attorney Tim Johnson and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced"
oakland, United States
Children's Hospital of Oakland, CA where victim was receiving medical treatment, referred victim to MISSSEY. While in MISSSEY's program, victim was referred to and received mental health counseling, after school programs.
waikiki, United States
Rodney D. King, 43, was charged with five counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Sharon-Mae Nishimura, 30, is accused of assisting King and was indicted on similar charges. King, also known as "Shadow" and "Special K," is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court here on June 29. A warrant has been issued for Nishimura's arrest.
warren, ohio, United States
Greg Lowery, 45, of Warren, Ohio, was charged with conspiracy to transport a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in prostitution or other unlawful sexual activity. Lowery's ex-girlfriend and co-defendant Pamela Tilley, 46, also of Warren, is charged with the same offense. Tilley is the mother of one of the children, the 13 year old. Tilley and Lowrey were using crack, drinking alcohol, and travelling across state lines into Pennsylvania to sell Tilley's daughter and a 15 year old runaway.
East Boston, MA, United States
Victor Diaz – resident of East Boston, (24) and his niece, Evelyn Diaz- resident of Chelsea(21), were charged with conspiring to sex traffic a minor between April 2004 and April 2005. At trial, the government proved that between approximately July 2003 and May 2005, Evelyn Diaz operated an escort service that was advertised in multiple publications and on the Internet. The escort service sent individuals, including minors, on prostitution calls in and around Boston. Victor Diaz assisted in the operation by driving adults and a minor to whom he and Evelyn Diaz are related to prostitution calls. Evelyn Diaz pleaded guilty in January 2007 to two counts of transporting a minor to engage in prostitution and three counts of sex trafficking of children, in addition to the conspiracy charge. On April 27, 2007, she was sentenced to serve nine years in federal http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/May/08-crm-474.html http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/Press%20Releases/DMA%20Diaz%20PR_071106.pdf
Hartford Conn, United States
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hartford and Windsor Police Departments, and the Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Genco and Andrew J. Kline of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Shanaya Hicks and nine co-defendants were charged in a 64-count superceding indictment on August 8, 2006. Hicks pleaded guilty on March 14, 2007, to the following charges: two counts of sex trafficking of minors, two counts of sex trafficking of adult women (through force, fraud or coercion), and conspiracy. Eight other charged individuals, including co-defendant Brian Forbes, also pleaded guilty in the case. In June 2007, co-defendant Dennis Paris was convicted at trial for multiple charges including sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking of adults (through force, fraud, and coercion), conspiracy, use of an interstate facility to promote prostitution, and money laundering. Co-defendant Forbes is scheduled to be sentenced on April 7, 2008, and co-defendant Paris is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2008.
Douglas County, Colorado, United States
Timothy Houser, 53, was arrested in October 2006 after a tip from the Denver Police Department that Houser had contacted a 16-year-old female who posted an ad in the erotic services section of Craigslist. Detectives said Houser gave the teen directions to his house in Parker, where there was a sexual encounter that he paid for.
Pensacola, FL, United States
A typical 16-year-old in a middle-class home in suburban Pensacola, Fla., Shauna Newell’s nightmare began innocently enough: A new friend she had met in high school asked her to come to her home for a sleepover. Newell’s mother, Lisa Brant, didn’t like the idea, but after weeks of lobbying by her daughter, Brant met with the girl and the man she said was her father to make sure her daughter would be safe. But the girl’s “father” was really a convicted felon, and the girl, who had a record of prostitution in Texas, was an accomplice in the abduction. “Her dad took us to this house and said he'd be right back and he left us there,” Newell recounted in a taped interview. “And I asked for some water because I was thirsty. And I drank the water and I blacked out.” The water had been laced with a drug. When she woke up, Newell was groggy and couldn’t move. “My legs were being held down, and the guy that was raping me was holding my hands back,” she said in a quiet voice. “I kept screaming, ‘Stop, please don't do this. Leave me alone.’ But I was so weak, I couldn't fight them off. Like I was, I was so really out of it. And I blacked out a few times and I kept coming back to. And I was still being raped every time I woke up.” Left alone for a moment, Newell managed to call her mother. “My cell phone rang. And all I heard was, ‘Mommy, help me,’ ” Brant said. “And the phone went dead. And I freaked!”
Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States
Corey Davis was the ring-leader of a sex-trafficking ring that spanned at least three states, and exploited as many as 20 women, including minors one of which was only 12 years old. Davis lured victims to his operation with promises of modeling contracts and a glamorous lifestyle. Davis then forced them into a grueling schedule of dancing and performing at strip clubs in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. When the clubs closed, Davis forced the victims to walk the streets until 4:00 or 5:00 A.M. propositioning customers. The indictment also alleged that Davis beat many of the victims to force them to work for him and that he also used physical abuse as punishment for disobeying the stringent rules he imposed to isolate and control them. The victims earned up to $5,000 a night in these activities, which Davis confiscated and kept for himself. more info at: http://newhaven.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/nh031607a.htm
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Immigration & Customs Enforcement At his plea hearing, Reyes-Santillan admitted to operating a brothel and knowingly employing a juvenile to engage in prostitution. Diego Cortes-Barrientos and Rafael Cortes-Barrientos admitted to working at brothels in Memphis and taking money from clients who engaged in commercial sex acts with alien prostitutes. Both defendants further admitted that neither they nor any of the other operators of the brothels had filed a factual statement with ICE setting forth the names of the aliens, the place at which they were kept, the date of their entry into the United States, their ports of entry, or their ages, nationality, or parentage.
Miami, Florida, United States
Minor victim (16 years old at time of arrest) was arrested in Miami, FL by local police. Victim is a native of Union City, GA who was trafficked by her pimp across state lines.
Miami, FL, United States
On June 14, 2006, Kareem Jackson and Eriverto Cotto was arrested for holding a 17-year-old female against her will at his residence. Acting as the girl's pimp, Jackson arranged for her to perform sex acts to repay an alleged debt to Jackson. Jackson sent the juvenile to a Miami hotel room in response to a call for one or more prostitutes. Unbeknownst to Jackson, undercover City of Miami Police Department detectives had made the call. Shortly after the minor arrived at the designated room, the detectives detained her. The girl explained to the detectives that she was 17 and had been held captive.
Miami Beach, FL, United States
An investigation revealed that a girl had been transported by "D-LO" from Detroit to South Florida for the purpose of prostitution. At trial, the victim testified that she was physically assaulted by the defendant and was forced to work as a prostitute at various locations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. After a physical altercation with "D-LO," in which he placed a revolver in the mouth of the minor victim, "D-LO" passed off the girl to another pimp named "Snake," who admitted at his plea hearing that he coerced the victim into performing commercial sex acts by "slapping her around.
Mission Canyon, California, United States
Law enforcement has placed the runaway girl back with her family. Santa Barbara police detective Chad Hunt obtained an arrest warrant for Rivers, and US Marshalls tracked Rivers down in Las Vegas. Rivers and Johnson were arrested. Rivers was charged with enticing a minor to commit lewd acts, pandering, and human trafficking. Johnson has been charged for pimping and pandering a minor, evading arrest amounting to a felony, and being an unlicensed driver.
Silver Lake, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Los Angeles, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Los Angeles, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Silver Lake, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Echo Park, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Silver Lake, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Silver Lake, California, United States
FBI and Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles accused the defendants of crimes. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement/ U.S. Department of Labor were also involved. Nine defendants have been arrested thus far. One a fugitive until recently arrested on September 15th, 2008. Intervention and investigations began into the ring after one of the trafficking drivers contacted authorities in October 2006.
Nashville, Tennesse, United States
Juan Mendez and Cristina Andres Perfecto traveled to a rural area in Mexico to recruit underage girls to come to the United States under false promises of working in restaurants. Perfecto convinced a 13 and 17 year old girl to return to the United States with her. She charged them 3,000 dollars for recruitment fees. Once they arrived in Tennessee the girls were beaten and raped by Mandez and forced to work in brothels throughout the state and required to have sex with as many as 40 men a day.
Seattle, Washington, United States
McGlover was charged at a U.S. District Court in Seattle with two counts of sex trafficking of a child. He was being held at a L.A. jail. McGlover is suspected of being involved in various cases of sex trafficking of minors, and investigations are ongoing. The police found another victim of McGlover, who was kidnapped by him in August, 2006. The victim was taken to a motel in Tacoma, Washington, where she was threatened if she did not work as a prostitute and was forced to give McGlover all of her earnings. She was forced to work seven days a week, earning about $1,000 a day.
North Fort Myers, FL, United States
Fernando Pascual smuggled the 13-year old victim into the U.S. from Guatemala in 2004. She was forced to work as a domestic servant in his home, and was also kept as a sex slave by Pascual and his brother, Mario Pascual. The victim was sold to Fernando Pascual by her mother and stepfather. He fathered the victim's 2-year-old son.
Wichita KS Houston TX Nevada, United States
John "Big John" Butler 47, William "Pookie" Hornbeak 34, Jamine "Fresh" Lake 27, Kristen "Princess" Land 28, Andre "Dre" McDaniels, Ronnie "Pimpin" Presley 35. Presley is from Wichita KS. All have now been arrested. Presley evaded authorities several times, including after being "cornered" but was finally arrested in Aug. Presley would kidnap victims at gun point on the streets of Wichita KS and take them to Houston. He threatened their families and would beat them up regularly. The traffickers have been charged with "a hefty load of federal crimes, including sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force and the transportation and coercion of minors". http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/largest_prostitution_ring_hous.php
palm beach, florida, United States
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein asked victim to become his sex slave. Victim was taken to several cities and countries and required to satisfy "every sexual whim" of both Epstein and his friends.
toledo, ohio, United States
A man accused of running a prostitution ring recruited girls younger than 18 - once paying $600 for a 17-year-old girl - and moved them from state to state for his business, a federal grand jury said in an indictment. Franklin Robinson, 36, of Toledo, Ohio, was arraigned Tuesday on a seven-count indictment after being arrested in Michigan, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod in Harrisburg. Polaris Project | P.O. Box 77892, Washington, DC 20013 | Tel: 202.745.1001 | www.PolarisProject.org | Info@PolarisProject.org © Copyright Polaris Project, 2007. All Rights Reserved. 57 He pleaded not guilty to charges that include three counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity. Authorities said Robinson, using such aliases as Michael Tucker, "Silk" and "Silky Red," has run prostitution rings in at least 10 states since 2001: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland and Tennessee, as well as Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, he allegedly brought two girls from Toledo to work as prostitutes in Harrisburg, the grand jury said. The indictment also claims he recruited prostitutes from Georgia, Ohio and New York and brought 12 prostitutes from Toledo to work in Harrisburg in March. Court records say Robinson wired more than $3,500 related to his prostitution activities from the Harrisburg area to Ohio and Indiana, or from Indiana to Ohio, in 2001. He is quoted in the indictment telling someone that he once beat a prostitute so badly his hands swelled up, and with threatening to cut the throat of a man he thought was causing trouble for one of his girls. Zubrod declined comment on the case. Robinson's lawyer, Heidi R. Freese, said she has spoken with Robinson - who is being held without bail at the Dauphin County Prison - since being appointed his lawyer earlier in the week. "All I can tell you at this point is it appears to be a complicated case," she said Friday.
Oakland, CA, United States
After several episodes of abuse, molestation and rape by relatives, this child was sent out to “get money” by her mother during frequent periods when there was no food or utilities in the house. “Boyfriend” kidnapped this child and transported her from Alameda County to Sacramento County where she engaged in prostitution. Subsequently commercially exploited by various unknown adult males.
reynoldsburg, ohio, United States
Several traffickers (four adult males, one adult female, all U.S. citizens) participated in a prostitution ring of one victim (13 years old, female, U.S. citizen). The victim’s father sold the sexual services of the victim to his friends. The victim received money and candy in exchange for the rapes. The father raped the 13-year-old victim and another daughter who was 17 years old at the time. Authorities charged Joseph Saunders (DOB 03/28/1937) of Reynoldsburg, Ohio with three counts of compelling prostitution and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct. Saunders pled guilty to all charges. Licking County Common Pleas Judge John Spahr sentenced Saunders to 24 years imprisonment, payment of court costs and attorney fees, and registry as a sex offender. also in the case, his friends... Ohio v. Bly, Case # 2005 CR 00654 (2005). Authorities charged Garry Bly (DOB 10/13/1939) of Columbus, Ohio, with ten counts of compelling prostitution, ten counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of illegal use of minor in nudity oriented material or performance. Bly pled guilty to all charges. Judge Jon Spahr sentenced Bly to 14 years imprisonment, payment of court costs and attorney fees, and registry as a sex offender. Ohio v. Coss, Case # 2005 CR 00662 (2005). Authorities charged Thomas Coss (DOB 08/27/1977) of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, to two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Coss pled guilty to both 39 counts. The court sentenced Coss to two years imprisonment, payment of court costs and attorney fees, restitution, and registry as a sex offender. Case # 2005 CR 00652 (2005). Authorities charged the victims’ father with three counts of rape (a first-degree felony) and three counts of gross sexual imposition (a third-degree felony). The father admitted to raping his two daughters and pled guilty to all counts. The court sentenced the trafficker to 18 years imprisonment, payment of court costs and attorney fees, registry as a sex offender, and five years of post-release probation. Ohio v. Smith (2006). Authorities charged Joseph Saunder’s girlfriend, Trudy Smith, 26, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, with two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The court found Smith mentally ill in April, 2006 and ordered her to undergo six months of treatment at a medical facility.
toledo, ohio, United States
Willoughby, Shope and Huskey were among 31 people linked to four child prostitution rings in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Eric Willoughby, 40, pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy and interstate transportation of minors for prostitution. Co-defendants Brandy Shope and Jennifer Huskey pleaded guilty to the same charges and were both sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison. A fourth defendant, Richard Lamar Gordon, was sentenced to 5 years for transportation of a minor for prostitution. A grand jury in Detroit charged the defendants in December 2005 with forcing two Toledo girls, 14 and 15, into prostitution in May of that year. The girls were held for 10 days in Michigan, where they were taken to hotel rooms for prostitution. Willoughby assaulted the girls and forced them to engage in sex acts while Shope and Huskey collected money from patrons, Murphy said.
Waikiki, United States
A 15-year-old girl was prostituted to eight different customers during a five-day kidnapping ordeal in which she was forced into prostitution in downtown streets, Honolulu police said. Jason Smith, 22, allegedly threatened to kill the girl and her family and told her who to solicit for sexual favors and how much to charge, police said in a court affidavit. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Dec/10/ln/FP512100317.html
Weehawken, New Jersey, United States
“The Ringleader” Luisa Medrano charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, one count of alien smuggling and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens. The "Recruiters" These defendants located pretty, young females from villages near Olanchito, Honduras, telling them they would be working in a restaurant in New Jersey. They allegedly handled them off to the smugglers. Those defendants are each charged in this Indictment as follows: • Lourdes Rosales Martinez, 33, of Tejeras, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor; two counts of alien smuggling. • Zenia Zunilda Martinez, 56, of Tejeras, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy; four counts of alien smuggling. • Nancy Floridalma Rosales Martinez, 34, of Olanchito, Honduras, in custody in Honduras, charged with one count of conspiracy; four counts of forced labor; 10 counts of alien smuggling, and four counts of harboring illegal aliens. The Smugglers or "Coyotes" • Jose Arnaldo Isuala-Meza, 23, of Sonaguera, Honduras (among others not named in the Indictment). The alleged lead "coyote," he smuggled groups of Honduran girls to the U.S.-Mexico border. While traveling with the girls, Isuala-Meza allegedly raped some of them, and, in at least one instance, left a 14-year-old alone in the Mexican desert, when she scratched him and fought while she was being raped. Isuala-Meza is being sought in Honduras. He is charged with one count of conspiracy and seven counts of alien smuggling. • Elsa Consuelo Isuala-Meza, 44, of Houston, Texas (Jose Isuala's sister), met some of the girls in Houston and arranged for their transportation to the New York area. An arrest warrant is outstanding for Isuala-Meza; she is charged with one count of conspiracy; seven counts of alien smuggling and two counts of harboring illegal aliens. The "Enforcers" These defendants imposed the rules and work on the victims, collected smuggling fees and were responsible for much of the abuse as described in the Indictment. • Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, 29, of Union City, arrested in February 2005 in Tennessee, remains in custody. She is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of forced labor, seven counts of alien smuggling and 10 counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, 37, of Union City, arrested in January 2005 in New Jersey, remains in custody. She is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, nine counts of forced labor and seven counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Jose Dimas Magana, 40, of Union City, arrested in February 2005 in Pennsylvania, remains in custody. He is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of forced labor, four counts of alien smuggling and 10 counts of harboring illegal aliens. • Rosalba Ortiz, 34, of Union City, arrested today. Ortiz is charged in the Indictment with one count of conspiracy, six counts of forced labor and four counts of harboring illegal aliens. Charges and Penalties Count One: Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor Offenses, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts Two through Eleven: Forced Labor, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts 12 through Twenty-One: Alien Smuggling, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts 22 through Thirty-One: Harboring Illegal Aliens, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Union City, New Jersey, United States
In total, 10 people were charged with violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), for counts of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. The leader, Medrano, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, one count of alien smuggling, and eight counts of harboring illegal aliens. The bars owned by Medrano where the victims worked are: El Paisano Bar and Nightclub at 509 22nd St. Union City, El Puerto del la Union I at 6710 Bergenline Ave. Guttenberg, and El Puerto de la Union II at 3806 Bergenline Ave. Union City. Lourdes Rosales Martinez, Zenia Zunilda Martinez, and Nancy Floridalma Rosales Martinez recruited the victims in Honduras, and were charged with counts of conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Jose Arnaldo Isuala-Meza and Elsa Consuelo Isuala-Meza smuggled the victims to the US, and were charged with conspiracy, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens. Noris Elvira Rosales Martinez, Ana Luz Rosales Martinez, Jose Dimas Magana, and Rosalba Ortiz were charged with conspiracy, forced labor, alien smuggling, and harboring illegal aliens.
Hounslow, London, England, United Kingdom
A young man befriended the 16 year-old girl in Lithuania, where he introduced her to his “friends” at a nightclub. They offered her an exciting, all expenses paid, ‘Sport’s Trip’ to London. She forged a permission letter from her parents, and the men took her to Sheffield where she was sold – they confiscated her ID card which proved she was 16. She was then sold to four/five Albanian brothers (ages 21, 22, 32, 33) who were operating a brothel in Hounslow, London. They told her she had to work to pay for the cost to transport her from Sheffield to London. The brothel operated 24/7 and the girls were given one day off a week. Girls were told that they would receive a share of their profits once the debt had been paid off. She was given a fake name and was allowed to make occasional phone calls to her family in Lithuania, but was too frightened to tell them about her situation. The gang also occasionally sent £100 or so, which the prosecution argued was to imply that the girl was doing well in the UK. The girl reports that she was forced to sleep with as many as 10 men per day, and earned her traffickers around £800 per day. She received no money.
Raleigh, NC, United States
Valente Chavez Sanchez Age: 33 Pleaded guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking a minor and transporting women for prostitution across state lines. Melania Corcino Age: 43 Pled guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking through coercion, and interstate transportation of persons with intent to engage in prostitution Jose Altagracia DeLeon Corcino Age: 25 Dominican Singer De Leon faces an extradition hearing before the Supreme Court. All three individuals operated a sex trafficking ring between 1997 and August 2004 in Raleigh, Fuquay-Varina, and Lillington, North Carolina. They trafficked the women and at least one 14 yr. old minor from New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Sanchez arranged the transportation of enslaved prostitutes from NY, NJ and MD. "The women typically would work a week in a brothel in Raleigh or Durham and then be exchanged for other out-of-state prostitutes. Investigators said the men sold $25 tickets to men for access to locations that housed females, including minors." "The price Sanchez paid for each new enslaved female was $130"(N&O). Women were kept "under lock and key" and were not allowed to quit. "Where the minor was found, there were armed guards at the house," Rangarajan said. Corcino "was barking orders and even offered her service [to investigators]"(N&O). Every Sunday evening, a new group of prostitutes was driven to Greensboro. On the way, Mora-Bueno would contact brothel operators, such as Sanchez, to see if they wanted to exchange prostitutes, Rangarajan said.
Gables Truck Stop, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, United States
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/facts-and-figures-2010-2011/investigative-programs Forty pimps associated with prostitution activities in central Pennsylvania were identified during the investigation. Additionally, 152 victims of prostitution were identified, 44 of which were recruited or worked as juveniles. On December 7, 2005, 18 subjects were named in two federal indictments. To date, all subjects have been convicted. Sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years in prison have been obtained. http://www.justice.gov/usao/pam/press_releases/2009%20archive/Dillard_05_15_09.htm As the direct result of [a state trooper's] actions in warning prostitutes and pimps of undercover operations and law enforcement sweeps, [a state trooper] enabled the prostitution ring to avoid arrest and prosecution and to continue to prostitute children as young as 12 years’ old at the Gables Truck Stop. Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, Research and Analysis Sub-Committee, Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio: Operation Precious Cargo occurred in December, 2005 in Harrisburg, PA. As a result of this investigation 151 victims of prostitution were identified, at least 45 of which were prostituted as children. Seventy-eight of 151 identified victims were from Toledo, the youngest of whom was just 12 years old. Of the 18 traffickers indicted in the Precious Cargo Case, all but one was from Toledo. Sixteen of the traffickers pleaded guilty and received sentences of up to 25 years in prison. Two traffickers were found guilty at trial and received 35 and 45 years in prison. In addition to the 18 traffickers indicted in the Precious Cargo Case, at least six other Toledo based traffickers have been prosecuted for the sex trafficking of women and children by other FBI Divisions. This is the story of Julie, one of the girls who was only 12 years old at the time she was trafficked. Julie* was walking down the street when a man in a car pulled up to talk to her and convinced her to take a ride. She explains, I really didn’t want to ‘cause I was scared but you know how an older person just comes at you like that and you don’t know what to do…He just said we were going to just sit there for a minute and you know a minute turned into days. He was acting all nice and buying me whatever I wanted. At the time she was approached by a trafficker, her home life was chaotic. She lived in poverty with an alcoholic father. When he became intoxicated, yelling would quickly progress to physical assaults. She felt stuck. I did want to leave…because my dad, he’s always drinking and stuff like that and till this day now, he still does it and back then he would slap me and stuff so I didn’t want to stay, you know, but I didn’t want to leave cause that lifestyle, at first I thought it was ok but after being out there and having to do that… At the time of her recruitment Julie was barely connected to school, with special needs and not receiving sufficient grades, she continued to attend in hopes of catching up with her classmates. Over time, and with much convincing from her would be trafficker, Julie ended up hesitantly agreeing to get in the car. Over time he convinced her to be driven to Harrisburg, PA. While there she was taken to a motel to dress in sexier clothing and driven to a truck stop and was expected to sell herself. She was walked over to various trucks, forced to get in and have sex with truck drivers while her “watcher” waited. [He took me] to where all the other girls are, ‘cause he got like five other girls and we was at a motel. We stayed until it got dark like around five or six then went out there and worked. I didn’t know it was going to be a truck stop, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t think I would have to walk up and down in the cold and having nasty old truck drivers touch me and stuff. I didn’t feel right…I gave the girl the money; the girl held my money after every date I had. * Story provided by Williamson (2008) raw data. Identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the victim.
Scarborough Ontario, Canada
A 22-year old Detroit man, Melando Streety. He was convicted of four prostitution-related charges. Heavily armed Toronto police rescued two London girls from his Scarborough residence in July of 2004. The 16 and 17 year olds had been abducted and taken to Toronto to work as prostitutes. http://www.atv.ca/london/news_26044.aspx Current News Development: “A pimp convicted of forcing teenage girls into prostitution has been charged Monday for a third time for continuing to run a sex business from behind bars. Streety has been convicted twice before of running a prostitution business while imprisoned. Streety, a U.S. citizen in Canada illegally, is serving an eight-year sentence for the abduction of two London, Ont. teenagers who were forced into prostitution at Toronto body rub parlours. At a previous trial, court heard inmate Streety spent an inordinate amount of time each day talking on a phone on his penitentiary cellblock. Streety was convicted in May of living off the avails of prostitution of girls under the age of 18. He had 32 months added to his sentence. Crown prosecutor John Skoropada said Streety issued orders to the women about when and for how long they could take breaks. Melando and Caleb Nettleton, 24, are charged with two counts of procuring.”
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Australia
Law enforcement received a tip-off regarding the website and arrested the parents. The mother plead guilty to 62 offences and the father to 41 offences. She was sentenced to 13 and 9 years gaol time and he to 10 and 7 years gaol time for the crimes of procuring the prostitution of their daughter; and maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with their daughter, respectively. They will be eligible for parole after four years and three years, respectively.
Miami, Florida, United States
In 2005, federal authorities arrested Mr. England, who was living in Fort Lauderdale, on charges of obtaining and using a passport by fraud. After serving a short sentence in federal prison in California, he went to a state prison to serve out his six-year sentence for the 1977 molesting charges. Federal prosecutors in South Florida said that Mr. England would be transported to Florida in the coming days to face charges of trafficking a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. These “charges will likely prevent a notorious convicted child molester from preying on other children,” said Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida.If convicted on the additional charges, Mr. England could face life in prison.
Teguchigalpa, Nicaragua, Nicaragua
INTERPOL acknowledges the problems in Cenetral America.In Costa Rica, Casa Alianza has filed about 400 criminal complaints with the office of the special prosecutor. Owing to the apathy and inefficiency of the judicial system, which is being blamed for hindering efforts to put an end to child prostitution, most of these cases have not been prosecuted.
Anchorage, AK, United States
United States v. Boehm, et. al. (Alaska). On March 19, 2004, an 18-count indictment was returned against Josef F. Boehm, charging him with conspiring commit sex trafficking of children, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Boehm pled guilty on November 22, 2004, to child sex trafficking and drug charges. As part of the plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit his residence and also to provide $1.2 million in a trust fund for the future benefit of the victims. Boehm was sentenced on May 10, 2005, to 11 years and 3 months of incarceration to be followed by five years’ supervised release.
Oakland, California, United States
Adult male and adult female engaged in production of child pornography.
Oakland CA, United States
In and out of various group homes after years in foster care. picked up by the police December 2005 (16 years old)
East 84th Street, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Valle-Maldonado pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and harbor aliens for the purpose of prostitution, importation of aliens for purposes of prostitution, and brining illegal aliens to the US. She was sentenced to 54 months in prison and ordered to pay $135,542 to nine of the victims. Three of her associates have also been convicted related to the case: Javier Sandoval-Garcia, Jose Velasquez-Garcia, and Juan Gregorio Martinez-Vasquez. Velasquez-Garcia and Martinez-Vasquez were sentenced to six months in prison.
Mount Rainier, Maryland, United States
Gary Gates and Tamisha Heyward operated a sex trafficking ring from their home on the internet. Victims, as young at 14, were forced to perform sex acts. Gates beat women who did not do as he told them, and sexually assaulted many of them. Gates also provided drugs to many of the victims. The victims were kept in their home at 16th St. NE.
Corona, Queens, United States
Josue Flores Carreto, Gerardo Flores Carreto, and Daniel Perez Alonso were involved in the Carreto family sex trafficking ring. The three admitted that between 1991 and 2004 they recruited young women from Mexico to come to the U.S. The victims were smuggled to New York City where they were forced to work as prostitutes in brothels. The victims were physically and verbally abused. The victims were forced to perform several sexual acts each day, at the date of $25 to $35. Half of the amount earner went to the owner and manager of the brothel, and the other half was taken by members of the Carreto organization.
Rohnert Park, CA, United States
Mark Leroy Daley, 41, of Santa Rosa was being held in Sonoma County Jail on $280,000 bail on four counts each of pimping a minor, providing a child under age 16 for lewd acts and pandering, and one count of possessing methamphetamine. An associate of Daley, Emmanuel Alvarado Ayala, 35, who was employed as a cook in Santa Rosa, was arrested on suspicion of eight charges involving sex with underage girls. He was booked on $100,000 bail. Police said he would pay for motel rooms and be given access to the girls. Daley used implied threats and intimidation to control the girls. He was known to hang out in downtown Santa Rosa and has lived for several years in motels on Santa Rosa and Cleveland avenues, Police Sgt. Dave Hayes said. Daley was unemployed. Police believe he tried to recruit at-risk or runaway teen-age girls living on the streets, and that there were other potential victims in this case.
Vista, CA, United States
Julio, Tomás and Luciano Salazar-Juárez are the dons of the largest local network trafficking and sexual exploiting Mexican girls and adolescents, who operated for over ten years in the agricultural camps and suburbs of San Diego. They used deception and coercion to recruit women and girls from native communities in Mexico to work as prostitutes in the San Diego area. The victims were normally moved by coyotes across the US Mexican border. Once in the US, the victims were kept in several houses throughout the San Diego county area. Many of the victims were moved to agricultural camps throughout the area to service workers at these locations.
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Quinton Williams operated a prostitution business, and trafficked women (including minors) across state lines. Williams would supervise the victims business, and keep all of their earnings. His sex trafficking business was his only source of income. In 2001 he traveled with victims from Chicago to Indiana, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.
Maseru, Lesotho, Lesotho
Lydia Muso, social worker in the LCCU. Cases were referred by Department of Social Welfare and the Maseru Urban Police. Two girls from Lesotho, ten victims in the record books of LCCU (Lesotho Child Counseling Unit): 6 were female, four were male. Female victims were on average 17 years old (youngest victim was 14), males were 16.5 years old on average. No details were given on how the victims were found. The trafficker was never found.
Cambrian Park, California, United States
A 15 year old girl was recruted by male pimps to enter the Santa Clara Children's Shelter to befriend girls in the shclter. She then convinced three other girls as young as 13 to run away with her to become prostitutes in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Fulton, New York, United States
"Fulton city police began their investigation shortly before midnight friday (8/9/2002) when a 15 year old girl was brought to the station by a relative. The arrests were made late Saturday and early Sunday." -Syracuse Post Standard 8/13/2002 "Seven men... face charges ranging from sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute to third degree rape and endangering." -Syracuse Post Standard 8/15/2002 "Judge Spencer J. Ludington has sentenced Dashnau to 9 months at the Oswego County Correctional Facility and Payment-Knopp to 6 months in Jail. Both women pleaded guilty to fourth degree promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors." -Syracuse Post Standard 2/6/2003 This poster has not yet found information on the charges against the men in question.
Ghana, Ghana
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 Fetish Slaves Liberation Movement negotiated with the Aklidokpo shrine community 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 22, 2004. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and their children and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a woman of unknown age was freed having served as a slave in the shrine since she was too young to remember. When she came she was too young to act on her own and was cared for by older slaves until she grew older. She was the third girl enslaved at the shrine in an attempt to atone for the same misdeed. When the priest tried to rape her, she ran away but was soon caught. Again she tried to run away later, but always ended up back at the shrine. She still struggles with fear, feeling that the god of the shrine may kill her at any time and for any reason.
Plainfield, New Jersey, United States
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.
Guinea, Guinea
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.
Grand Rapids, MI, United States
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.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
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.
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Joseph Djoumessi, 49, was found guilty of conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring for financial gain. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, to run concurrent with a 9-to-15-year sentence he is currently serving for a Michigan state conviction related to the same crime. A jury also convicted Djoumessi’s wife, Evelyn Djoumessi, 42, of conspiracy and involuntary servitude. She was sentenced to five years in prison. The couple was also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victim. The couple (and the victim) were immigrants from Cameroon.
Immokalee, Fl, United States
Jose Tecum was found guilty of kidnapping, sale into involuntary servitude, bringing in and harboring aliens and fraud and misuse of visas and permits. Status: Locked up until October 2007
Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Two of the three girls are sisters, and said they were homeless because their father was dead and their mother was a drug abuser. According to McPeters, two of the girls first approached him on Santa Rosa Avenue when he was using the telephone and asked him for a ride. He said he began hanging out with the girls because they had methamphetamine. He got them rooms at different Santa Rosa motels and arranged for them to have sex with men he brought to their rooms. One girl said McPeters often would wait outside the motel room or apartment bedrooms and knock when time was up. The defendant provided the girls with pocket knives for protection, food, rides to school and condoms, according to the police investigation cited in a pre-sentencing report prepared by the probation department. Police discovered three girls engaging in prostitution after they arrested a convicted rapist who was not supposed to be in the company of minors as part of the conditions of his parole, but was seen in the company of one of them the day after his release from prison. Further investigation led to the arrest of McPeters on suspicion of pimping and pandering.
Miami, Florida, United States
A Little Havana business owner, Manuel “Melo” Sanchez Reyes, was charged with 42 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child. Police believed he preyed on young girls for years.
Fort Pierce, Florida, United States
Juan Luis Cadena-Sosa, 43 from Mexico. Also being convicted is Procopio Lopez-Contreras, 47. Also said to be aided by other members of the Cadena-Sosa family. Juan Luis has been convicted of invonluntary servitude and conspiracy to recruit, harbor, and transport known illegal aliens for prostitution. He is being sentenced in August, 2008 with a max of 15 years possible.