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A 17-year-old girl walked into the lobby of a Ventura, CA, hotel and told the front desk manager she was being held against her will by a man and a woman, Elijah Tucker, 22, and Davisha Sweat, 25, and forced into prostitution.
Law enforcement globally is reporting a rise in pop-up brothels. Last year alone in San Diego, CA, human trafficking was an $810-million industry.
Marquez Thomas, 20, of Sacramento, CA, sexually exploited two 17-year-old high school girls and acted as the girls’ pimp and arranged commercial sex work for them in hotels in San Francisco, Daly City, Napa County and Reno, NV, prosecutors said.
Peter Paul Castillo, 30, and Johnette Amanda Terrell, 18, both of Los Angeles, CA, forced a 15-year-old girl, who had been reported as a runaway, into prostitution. The victim was rescued, offered immediate services and resources, then safely returned to her family.
Charles Wayne Caldwell, 37, of Sacramento, CA, has a violent past with a history of victimizing vulnerable women. Throughout the investigation the victim told police about multiple times she had been abused and forced to perform commercial sex acts.
Armand King of San Diego, CA, spent more than a decade working as a pimp. Today, King speaks publicly about his experiences in sex trafficking all over the country to law enforcement agencies and professionals. King’s personal story, told in his book, takes a look at the impact pimping and prostitution has had on communities of color.
Kevin Fuqua, who authorities wrote goes by the nickname “Knote,” was pimping a teen girl who had run away from her home in Solano County, CA. Investigators say they uncovered text messages that indicate Fuqua was physically abusing the girl. Fuqua knew the girl was underage — having attended her 17th birthday months before the arrest — and forced her to walk areas known for prostitution until she made $500 per night.
Foster Shane Gaines, 42, has pleaded guilty to operating a drug and sex trafficking ring from his prison cell in Represa, CA, where he was already serving an eight-year sentence for directing the prostitution of another woman. The trafficking ring, largely operating in Tidewater, VA, involved 10 adult women and two underage girls.
The owners, Michael James Pratt, 36, and Matthew Isaac Wolfe, 37, and two employees, Ruben Andre Garcia, 31, and Valorie Moser, 37, of two popular pornographic websites were charged this week in San Diego, CA with sex trafficking and other crimes. Using “deception and false promises” they lured women who had answered modeling advertisements on Craigslist to participate in sex videos that were posted on the internet.
Lonnel Moore, 37, of Oakland, California was convicted on Monday of human trafficking of a minor with force, pimping of a minor, inducing a minor to commit a lewd and lascivious act, and committing a lewd act on a minor. Police alleged that Moore used drugs and abusive language against the 15-year-old girl to subjugate her to the life of pimping and sex trafficking.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.
