The year-old thought she was just going to smoke with a couple of men. They picked up the teen and her year-old girlfriend and drove them to a house in St.
Once they arrived, the year-old was told she would be put to work as a prostitute. One of the men began to make advances toward the year-old, who called police and eventually went home. A year-old girl told police she was waiting at a Minneapolis bus stop when a man offered her a ride. The man told her some girls sold sex for him and she would, too. The five — including four from the same family — were arrested Monday and charged Wednesday with felony sex trafficking.
Washington, All are from St. Paul, except for Washington-Davis, who lives in Brooklyn Park, according to the complaint. They are accused of trafficking eight girls and women ages 15 to 40, with most in their late teens and early 20s.
Prosecutors said two other females previously were victimized, and Choi said the ongoing investigation may uncover additional victims. According to the complaint, two women were approached at a homeless shelter where they lived; another was bipolar; and a fourth had a cognitive disorder. They also get the women to recruit their friends, charges said. Once they recruited their victims, the sex ring placed hundreds of ads for them on websites such as Backpage. They used eight email addresses, 30 phone numbers and more than credit cards to carry out their scheme, according to the complaint.
Paul police Sgt. John Bandemer said. The investigation began after a grandmother of the year-old emailed police in October with concerns about the girl, Choi said. A year-old bipolar woman told police that Washington-Davis had been prostituting her since September and collecting all the money.
