Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors - Women's Funding Network

• June 10, 2010 – Baltimore
— Reported June 11, 2010, by Andrea F. Seigel of the Baltimore Sun.
— Gabriel Dreke-Hernandez was arrested and charged with Human Trafficking of a Minor, First
and Second-Degree Assault, Kidnapping and a number of other related offenses.
— He was caught with three girls in a local hotel room, each of whom he had forced into
prostitution. Two of the girls were teenagers, and one of those two was 16-years-old.
— Part of Anne Arundel County officials’ crackdown on prostitution and sex trafficking known as
“Operation Escape.” The operation sternly requests assistance from local hotel/motel
owners, or they can also be charged for abetting certain criminal activity.
• Early June 2010 – Laurel*
— Reported August 3, 2010 by Steve Turnham and Amber Lyon on Anderson Cooper 360.
— At a hotel in Maryland a 12-year-old girl was discovered
— She told her mother she was being forced to work as a prostitute.
— According to police and anti-trafficking advocates, the internet has now become the preferred
way to sell women for sex.
— Craigslist this year is expected to earn a third of its revenue -- more than $36 million -- from
its adult services section alone.
Massachusetts
• July 8, 2011- Somerville
— Reported on July 8, 2011, by Matt Byrne of Boston.com
— A 16-year-old girl was arrested June 28 in a prostitution sting at a Somerville hotel, the police
said yesterday.
— The vice officers saw a classified advertisement for sexual conduct in an unidentified media
source, contacted the girl, and set up a time to meet. The girl quoted the officer $150 for a
half hour of sexual conduct or $200 for an hour, and told the officer to bring condoms,
according to the report.
— After her arrest, the girl said she was wanted for a Child in Need of Services warrant, usually
issued to runaway children. Police also notified the Department of Children and Families.
• May 27, 2011- Danvers, Dorchester, Quincy*
— Reported on May 27, 2011, by Brian R. Ballou and John R. Ellement of The Boston Globe
— A 15-year-old girl was forced to have sex with men who paid between $100 and $150 to
Norman S. Barnes, a Dorchester man accused of kidnapping the girl and forcing her to
become his sex slave for 10 days, officials alleged today.
— Barnes recruited customers by having the girl pose in a pink dress for an internet posting on
the website -- backpage.com
— Barnes is being held without bail for at least the next 60 days.
• November 23, 2010- Boston
— Reported on November 23, 2010, by Jenifer B. McKim of The Boston Globe
— Dorchester man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in federal prison for his role in a
vicious prostitution ring that trafficked teenage girls from Maine to Florida.
— US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner said the lengthy term was not only punishment for
Eddie Jones, 27, but was also intended to deter others in the business of trafficking minors.
— Jones was convicted last year of one count of conspiracy and two counts of transporting a
minor across state lines to engage in prostitution.
— He is the last of six men to be sentenced in a federal case that put a spotlight on the growing
problem of child prostitution in Boston and around the United States.
• October 13, 2010 – Danvers
— Reported October 15, 2010, by Boston Globe staff.
— Maria Trinidad pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to two years in prison for trying to turn
a 13-year-old girl into a prostitute.
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