An excellent and in-depth article concerning the heinous crime of child trafficking. What brave young women!! Thank you Jessica. May you have many blessings.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/10/10/a_former_teenage_prostitute_struggles_to_move_on/
People need to know what these guys have done
Federal prosecutors cracked the child prostitution ring, opening a window onto a sordid underworld. They couldn’t have done it without one brave woman.
"It was one of the biggest child prostitution cases in state history, culminating last year in the conviction of six Boston pimps involved in a violent prostitution ring that enslaved girls from local neighborhoods. And the case would not have been won without Jessica. She was the first young prostitute to share her story with investigators and one of the terrified young witnesses whose court testimony was key to the convictions.
She is still paying the price for her quiet heroism...."
and
"....Today, she lives hundreds of miles from the turf of her tormentors, especially Eddie Jones and Darryl Tavares. The two pimps treated her like their property, Jessica told a federal jury last November, coercing her to have sex with strangers and pocketing the money she made.
She says her mouth still throbs from the time Jones stomped on her with his Timberland boots, breaking several teeth. A scar on her cheek is a permanent reminder of a vicious altercation with Tavares; Jessica says he slashed her with a potato peeler to mark her as his property...."
and
"....Jones, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in US District Court in Boston for his role in her abuse and that of other young prostitution victims. Tavares, 26, is already serving a 25-year prison sentence. They were convicted last November on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to take women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Jessica and six other young women testified during their trial....."
and
"A lot of Americans don’t think it is a problem here,’’ said John Shehan, executive director of the exploited child division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “It is happening in mainstream America. The only way not to find it is simply not to look for it.’’
5 pages at link, including video
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/10/10/a_former_teenage_prostitute_struggles_to_move_on/
People need to know what these guys have done
Federal prosecutors cracked the child prostitution ring, opening a window onto a sordid underworld. They couldn’t have done it without one brave woman.
"It was one of the biggest child prostitution cases in state history, culminating last year in the conviction of six Boston pimps involved in a violent prostitution ring that enslaved girls from local neighborhoods. And the case would not have been won without Jessica. She was the first young prostitute to share her story with investigators and one of the terrified young witnesses whose court testimony was key to the convictions.
She is still paying the price for her quiet heroism...."
and
"....Today, she lives hundreds of miles from the turf of her tormentors, especially Eddie Jones and Darryl Tavares. The two pimps treated her like their property, Jessica told a federal jury last November, coercing her to have sex with strangers and pocketing the money she made.
She says her mouth still throbs from the time Jones stomped on her with his Timberland boots, breaking several teeth. A scar on her cheek is a permanent reminder of a vicious altercation with Tavares; Jessica says he slashed her with a potato peeler to mark her as his property...."
and
"....Jones, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in US District Court in Boston for his role in her abuse and that of other young prostitution victims. Tavares, 26, is already serving a 25-year prison sentence. They were convicted last November on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to take women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Jessica and six other young women testified during their trial....."
and
"A lot of Americans don’t think it is a problem here,’’ said John Shehan, executive director of the exploited child division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “It is happening in mainstream America. The only way not to find it is simply not to look for it.’’
5 pages at link, including video