Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
A 19-year-old man charged with "pimping" the services of a 16-year-old girl on the popular Craigslist Web site and forcing her to have sex with him made his initial court appearance yesterday. Advertisement Marcus X. Arrington of Halawa is charged with first-degree promotion of prostitution and second-degree sexual assault. His bail was set at $50,000 and he is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing tomorrow. Also charged with Arrington are Anthony Fuller and Brad Y.K. Young. Both also are charged with promoting prostitution, while Fuller was charged with third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and Young with third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
HTRA conducted an investigation into reports that human trafficking involving prostitution and drug dealing were occurring at La Potra Bar on the 6100 block of Airline in Houston, TX. As a result, all four Honduran nationals were arrested in Oct 2009 and charged by criminal compliant with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The fourth man from Mexico was charged with Alien Smuggling. All men plead guilty to the offense charged to them, accept the 46 year old male, who committed suicide while in federal custody pending charge for Human Trafficking. In the FBI press release, U.S. Attorney Moreno had this to say about this case: "Often, victims of human trafficking who are forced into prostitution or forced labor are also forced to endure living and working among alien smugglers and drug dealers. This case, in which five defendants were arrest for various criminal offenses, illustrates the dark world within which the human trafficking victims are forced to exist until rescued or until they can escape, but it also demonstrates our continued commitment to rescue the victims and to prosecute not only the human trafficker but other offenders as well."
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Los Angeles Police received a call from Cherise's mother after she called her mother when she was stuck in a hotel room with Green. The case was investigated by the Beaverton police force as well. The Oregon Trafficking Task Force, a group of federal and local agencies also took part in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin. U.S. District Court Judge Garr M. King was responsible for the sentencing of Green to six years in federal prison and three years of heavy surveillance following the prison sentence.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The indictment indicates that the FBI was intercepting Mujahid's telephone calls for at least five months. In one conversation, Hooks was overheard asking Mujahid "if there were any new girls with whom he could have sex," the indictment charged. . UPDATE The Anchorage Police Department Vice Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case. They were assisted by agents and detectives from the Innocence Lost Task Force and the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office with assistance from the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and the Criminal Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. . The indictment charges: * two counts of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and by force, fraud and coercion; * two counts of sex trafficking of children and by force, fraud and coercion; * one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child and by force, fraud and coercion; * six counts of promoting prostitution of children; * eight counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; * ten counts of promoting prostitution; two counts of attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; * two counts of possession of child pornography; * one count of sexual exploitation of a child—production of child pornography; * one count of tampering with a victim; * one count of conspiracy to defraud the government–filing false tax returns; and,five counts of identity theft. The 41-count superseding indictment names Mujahid, age 52, Greene, age 38, Marshall, age 21, and Hooks, age 50, as the defendants. Not all of the defendants are named in each count.
Sex Trafficking2009
Greece GR
Four Greek police officers as well as 25 other people were arrested under the suspicion of trafficking approximately 300 women from all over Eastern Europe to Athens. The women were placed in nightclubs and strip clubs, private homes and unlicensed brothels. The police officers allegedly helped supply these women with false identification documents and tipped off nightclub owners about planned police vice raids.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
According to United States Attorney Nahmias, the charges and other information presented in court: On February 21, 2009, local law enforcement officers, working in conjunction with the FBI, arrested PRUITT and HARRIS at a hotel in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, after agents arrived at the hotel to investigate possible illegal activity involving underage girls recruited to work as prostitutes. At the hotel, the agents encountered the 17-year old victim, whose photographs the agents had previously seen on an internet website advertising erotic services. The FBI believed that the victim, whose advertisement listed her age as 19 years, was a juvenile. While at the hotel the victim agreed to cooperate with agents and explained that PRUITT and HARRIS brought her to the hotel to work as a prostitute. The victim further explained that, after meeting PRUITT and HARRIS on February 20, 2009, HARRIS took nude photographs of the victim at a hotel that HARRIS then uploaded onto the “Craigslist” internet website. Within approximately 25 minutes, HARRIS began receiving telephone calls regarding the victim’s advertisement. Subsequently, PRUITT and HARRIS allegedly caused the victim to engage in commercial sex acts with approximately 13 men between February 20, 2009, and February 21, 2009. The defendants knew that the victim was 17 years old, but cautioned her to state that she was 19 years old. The defendants kept all of the money earned by the victim. The indictment charges PRUITT and HARRIS with one count of conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a minor, and a second count charging PRUITT with the substantive offense of sex trafficking of a minor. Count One of the indictment carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Count Two carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
A Fulton County jury convicted a 26-year-old Atlanta man Thursday of transporting his 16-year-old first cousin to Metropolitan Parkway for prostitution. Zaccheus Obie, arrested in January, will be sentenced Wednesday for one count of pimping a minor, which could get him as much as 20 years in prison. According to testimony, police learned of Obie after the girl was arrested in May 2008 but he could have been running his operation for as long as four years. He bought her clothes and paid to have her hair done before she was sent to stroll Metropolitan Parkway. Obie took her money, according to testimony. While the case involving his 16-year-old cousin has been resolved, he also is charged with raping the girl’s younger sister, also Obie’s first cousin. That case has not been taken to trial.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
police followed the victim, a minor, to a location where she meet her pimp. he along with the motel manager were arrested.
Sex Trafficking2009
Gambia GM
Gambian authorities questioned 63 Ghanaian children ages 12 to 18 who were trafficked into the country as sex slaves and domestic workers for a group of Ghanaian fishermen living off the coast of Gambia, known as "Ghana Town." They were smuggled into Gambia without official papers to satisfy the sexual desires of older men. They were also forced to work long hours smoking fish and selling gari. Some were crowded into rooms with 12 girls to a room. Some boys were also forced to work as fishermen. The masters forbade the slave children to contact their parents at home. More information: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=48765
Sex Trafficking2009
United Kingdom GB
Simon Dempsey (39) and Chen Rong (33) Both Simon Dempsey and Chen Rong have been charged for facilitating the UK arrival of Chinese girls for sex trafficking purposes. Dempsey, a former Police Service of Northern Ireland officer, acted as the enforcer while Rong acted as the "controller of the brothels". A group of 6 girls were rescued in Belfast & Londonderry, Northern Ireland. These girls were trafficked from China through a Chinese Mafia ring and have since been forced to work as sex slaves in England and now Northern Ireland. This operation has been a long time in the planning and have numerous partner agencies involved in bringing women over from China to work all across Europe. In this particular Northern Ireland case, the women were told they would be working as nannies/babysitters in the UK. Both Dempsey and Rong are now awaiting a final sentence.
Sex Trafficking2009
Nigeria NG
A 22 year old girl was recruited by a family friend, telling her mother he would "help" her "travel out." The poor mother, who sold snails at a local market to eek out a meager living, thought her daughter was obtaining a good job. Instead she was sent to Spain where she was forced to work as a prostitute for ten months, until she was deported. The girl was charged for the cost of her trip, putting her into debt bondage. She paid her "madam" 25,000 Euros in 10 months, but was told she must work until the madam was "satisfied." Others familiar with sex trafficking between Nigeria and Spain say it is not uncommon for girls to have to pay back $50,000. Her pimps forced her to have sex with them and beat her into submission. Further, on the day of her departure, her intimate hairs and nails were shaved and given to her captor so that he could "curse" her in case she decided to escape.
Sex Trafficking2009
Nigeria NG
A Nigerian high chief was arrested for allegedly sending a young woman abroad without her consent for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. The girl was being sent to Italy, but was currently trapped in Libya. The chief claims it was actually a sister who requested him to recruit the girl to work in her beer parlor in Italy, but the sister denies this. The family has been able to speak briefly to the girl by phone, but she did not seem free to talk, answering only yes or no, and her captor is demanding 500 Euros for her freedom. At other times Libyan officials have claimed that the sea through which the girl must travel to Italy is not yet safe. The trafficker calls itself a “sponsor” and lures young people with the offer of living abroad. Their lure has captured virtually every family in the Edo State, but most are unaware their children have been trafficked, knowing only that they are “living abroad”. The two most common destination countries are Spain and Italy. Victims also pass through an intermediary country—Libya for Italy and Morocco for Spain. They normally spend months in that transit country, and many of them die there. While there, they are taken to a juju (voodoo) priest, who performs rituals to ensure that they never reveal the secrets of the trafficking trade. They are wrapped in a wrapper that has been removed from a corpse, and are sometimes made to drink water from a dead body, while swearing to different gods. One of the juju priests admitted that there are three major oaths they administer to the girls being trafficked : One is ,if she gets to that place, she should not run away with any body they ask her to stay with. The other one is; if she gets there, she should not arrest her sponsor with the police. And the third is: any thing she knows that can kill her sponsor without alerting her, she will be punished too. And at the end of the day, if she does not violate any of the oaths, she will get whatever she wants in her life. These are the claims made by the juju priests. The traffickers are believed to have residency permits in Europe, and use people in Nigeria as their messengers. Those who are sent to Libya become sex slaves of the security guards tending them. More information: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/18/benin-herbalistschiefs-caught-for-human-trafficking/
Sex Trafficking2009
Nigeria NG
In September 2009, over 500 girls were returned to Nigeria who had been held in underground jails in Libya as sex slaves for nearly a year. This group told police that over 2,000 others had died in Libyan jails since January 2009, most of them killed in the desert by the security forces. The trafficker calls itself a “sponsor” and lures young people with the offer of living abroad. Their lure has captured virtually every family in the Edo State, but most are unaware their children have been trafficked, knowing only that they are “living abroad”. The two most common destination countries are Spain and Italy. Victims also pass through an intermediary country—Libya for Italy and Morocco for Spain. They normally spend months in that transit country, and many of them die there. While there, they are taken to a juju (voodoo) priest, who performs rituals to ensure that they never reveal the secrets of the trafficking trade. They are wrapped in a wrapper that has been removed from a corpse. More information: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/18/benin-herbalistschiefs-caught-for-human-trafficking/
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Agents arrested a 33 yrs old, who was described as an illegal alien who had been deported to Mexico after being arrested in a similar sex trafficking case. Sources said he returned to the US and ran a new trafficking ring that brought in several unwitting women from Mexico to become prostitutes. While in Mexico he began a romantic relationship with the teen and later paid a smuggler to bring her to the US in April 2007.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Chappell (trafficker) was sentenced to 336 months in prison on one count of sex trafficking a minor. "June of 2007, the Bloomington Police Department conducted surveillance at a hotel, where they found four adult women in a room rented by Chappell. Police later learned that Chappell was prostituting both adult and juvenile females, promoting his business through computer ads on the Internet sites CraigsList and Backpage.com." -News Release
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The man was charged with human trafficking and forced labour. His bail was set at $1 million. He is 23 years old and lives at Sherwood Lane in Bonita Springs, FL. He is originally from the same village as the girl that he smuggled into the states is.
Sex Trafficking2009
Botswana BW
Botswana police are investigating a human trafficking ring thought to be responsible for trafficking more than 1000 Batswana from the country and selling them for cheap labour, sexual exploitation, servitude and debt bondage in Europe. Police investigations are focusing on Business Consultants who are believed to be spiders in the extensive web that is believed to have trafficked at least 1000 Batswana. A source close to the investigation believes that it is more. So far, eight business consultants and six other suspects believed to be part of the human trafficking ring are already in police custody.
Sex Trafficking2009
Burkina Faso BF
A recruiter approached a young woman in Nigeria, offering her an opportunity to travel abroad, to Burkina Faso, for a better life. She showed her a passport and assured her she would not need to pay a dime. The offered seemed good, so she traveled to Burkina Faso. On arrival, the recruiter handed them over to a woman who seized their passports, then took her and other girls to a hotel and informed them that they must prostitute themselves in order to survive.
Sex Trafficking2009
Philippines PH
The Philippine government handed down life sentences to the Swedes on May 6th, 2011. The court also fined the Swedes, Emil Andreas Solemo and Bo Stefan Sederholm, $46,500 (American) each. Three Filipinos were given 20-year jail sentences for helping the Swedes, who had set up the internet and payment systems, to run the business. The Philippine government justified the charge of Human Trafficking because the women were transported from different parts of the Philippines to the site of the exploitation. As of June 1, 2011, Andreas and Sederholm are appealing the ruling.
Sex Trafficking2009
Canada CA
Linh Quy To, 52, has been charged with unlawfully keeping a common bawdy house, trafficking in persons, material benefit from trafficking in persons, conspiracy to commit an indictable offense, possession of property obtained by crime, and living of the avails of prostitution.
Sex Trafficking2009
Canada CA
Detective Assistant Superintendent Selebatso Mokgosi from Interpol confirmed to the Sunday Standard that a Motswana woman who had been trafficked to work in a Canadian brothel was recently arrested in Canada without work and resident permits. Detective Assistant Superintendent Mokgosi would not disclose details on the case, saying, “It is too early to reveal the identity of the suspect.”
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
ICE was invloved in the case. here is link to the latest article:http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/983851.html?storylink=omni_popular
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Jorge Flores Rojas created a shrine to the patron saint of death, said to protect pimps and other criminasl. Each day he prayed to Santa Muerte, joined by the teenaged girls whom he forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a day.
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
Jorge Flores Rojas, 45, was a notorious sex trafficking operator in Charlotte. Local and federal authorities say Flores' ring brought in hundreds of young women each year to work as prostitutes. Flores, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, picked up vans full of eight to 10 young women each week outside the McDonald's on West Sugar Creek Road near Interstate 85, where other traffickers had brought them. Others, he smuggled in directly from Latin America. Authorities say he brought customers to his apartment off Sharon Amity Road near Eastland Mall, but mostly took the girls to hotels and brothels set up around the city. In November 2007, court documents say, he "sold" at least two teenagers from Mexico to Yaneth Martinez, a D.C. madam, who advertised her services with cards offering "Hair Cuts for Men Only." Martinez worked the girls in the capital city and gave Flores a cut of the profits. A month later, she returned them to him. Their business relationship worked like this for more than a year, federal authorities said.