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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.
U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno, NV, said in her ruling “that plaintiffs were unlawfully forced into prostitution and sex trafficked in Nevada and other states is not sufficiently traceable to Nevada laws … as opposed to other factors, namely the illicit behaviors of private bad actors.”
Sean David Rix, 53, from Las Vegas, was arrested in early August by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department for two counts of attempted commercial sexual exploitation of a minor. Authorities explained that the charge is in relation to a subject attempting to purchase sexually explicit photos from the minor.
The arrest report says the “11 year old girl” wore a tight-fitting dress and black high heels and had condoms in her purse. It also says she acknowledged smoking and drinking with the accused perpetrator 40 year old Gigi Mitchell in Las Vegas, NV. casinos.
“We didn’t have food or money and this guy was offering it. I didn’t think I had a choice,” Angela says. She felt her self-worth disappear completely when the stranger subtracted the cost of the condoms he bought from the total he gave her. “I felt disgusted.”
Nevada lawmakers are considering a bill that takes the first step toward treating survivors of child sex exploitation as victims, not criminals. Assembly Bill 151 ensures Nevada’s compliance with federal law requiring states to tweak their child abuse and neglect statutes to include sex trafficking.
A former Las Vegas fire captain pleaded guilty to two felonies Monday after authorities accused him of paying a teenage girl $300 to have sex with him at a fire station. Richard Loughry, 48, entered a plea to one count each of attempted statutory sexual seduction and soliciting prostitution. He entered a type of guilty plea that required him to admit only that prosecutors had enough evidence to prove the case to a jury.
Nevada state law currently allows legal brothels in rural counties with fewer than 700,000 residents. Steve Sisolak (D) seeks to ban Nevada from allowing legal prostitution and create a $2 million fund to help women leave the sex trade, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. “We’ve got increased public awareness leading to community action,” he said.
A bill introduced in the Nevada Senate Monday would permit victims of sex trafficking or forced prostitution to seek expungement of convictions for any non-violent crime they committed arising from their servitude.
The state of Nevada’s Senate Bill 7, if adopted, would additionally provide that a customer who violates such a prohibition by knowingly soliciting a child who is less than 14 years of age for prostitution is committing a sex trafficking crime, and therefore is guilty of a Category A Felony, life in prison with possible parole after 15 years.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.