Nashville: Couple Charged with Trafficking Teenage Girl
NASHVILLE - Two people from Nashville were charged with the sex trafficking of children after authorities said they smuggled a 13-year-old girl into the U.S. from Mexico and forced her into a life of prostitution in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.
Juan Mendez and Cristina Andres Perfecto were arrested last week and named Thursday in a complaint filed in federal court in Memphis.
Federal officials in Memphis said it is the first case to their knowledge involving children smuggled into Tennessee to be forced into the sex trade.
"Obviously, we're concerned about it, and it's certainly our intention to keep this investigation going," said Lee Anne Jordon, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Memphis.
Authorities said it's too early to tell how large the ring was or whether all perpetrators have been found.
The girl, now 15, is the only juvenile victim identified, Jordon said.
...
Perfecto, authorities said, told the girl that she and Mendez would have to pay smugglers $3,000 to get her into the U.S. and that she would have to repay that when she started working.
Once in Nashville, Mendez raped the girl and threatened to kill her family if she did not work as a prostitute, according to court documents. She was 14 at the time.
Two weeks later, court documents state, Mendez took her to a Kentucky brothel and forced her to have sex with 14 people on the first day. Afterward she was sick with a headache and severe pelvic inflammation and had to be hospitalized for several days.
[Editor's note: Why didn't the hospital staff report the girl's condition to authorities at that time?]
Mendez let her rest for two weeks after her release from the hospital but then forced her to work as a prostitute in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Birmingham, Ala., and other cities, the federal documents state.
She was never allowed to leave unescorted and never ran away because she was afraid for her family, the account states.
See the full article at KnoxNews.com
Juan Mendez and Cristina Andres Perfecto were arrested last week and named Thursday in a complaint filed in federal court in Memphis.
Federal officials in Memphis said it is the first case to their knowledge involving children smuggled into Tennessee to be forced into the sex trade.
"Obviously, we're concerned about it, and it's certainly our intention to keep this investigation going," said Lee Anne Jordon, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Memphis.
Authorities said it's too early to tell how large the ring was or whether all perpetrators have been found.
The girl, now 15, is the only juvenile victim identified, Jordon said.
...
Perfecto, authorities said, told the girl that she and Mendez would have to pay smugglers $3,000 to get her into the U.S. and that she would have to repay that when she started working.
Once in Nashville, Mendez raped the girl and threatened to kill her family if she did not work as a prostitute, according to court documents. She was 14 at the time.
Two weeks later, court documents state, Mendez took her to a Kentucky brothel and forced her to have sex with 14 people on the first day. Afterward she was sick with a headache and severe pelvic inflammation and had to be hospitalized for several days.
[Editor's note: Why didn't the hospital staff report the girl's condition to authorities at that time?]
Mendez let her rest for two weeks after her release from the hospital but then forced her to work as a prostitute in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Birmingham, Ala., and other cities, the federal documents state.
She was never allowed to leave unescorted and never ran away because she was afraid for her family, the account states.
See the full article at KnoxNews.com
posted by Sarah G. at 11:01 AM
Del.icio.us
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home