With the promise of making money selling jewelry on the streets of the Midwest City, 32-year-
Authorities say the elderly in Chicago have attracted women and girls to a multi-state prostitution gang that operates like a cult.
Henry Davis allegedly used sexual assault, beatings and threats to retain these women and girls --
Many of them ran away from home or alienated from their families
Under his control.
The ring, with the participation of a 13-year-old girl, may operate from 1995.
Detroit police Cmdr: "This guy chose his target . "
Said Steven Simon.
Who is the young girl (were)
Not sure of yourself, run away from home, no place to go. "It was a 17-year-
According to police, she was kidnapped on January.
A bus stop in Cleveland helped the authorities break the ring.
Prosecutors say she was taken to Chicago and Detroit on Monday and raped before seeking protection from store security.
Later that day, a protester interrupted Harris, who led police to her home near a bungalow and duplex on the east side of the city, where Davis was arrested.
Davis was accused on Thursday of involving girls and 20-year-
But prosecutors and police say they expect more charges and more victims to come forward.
Rebecca Tenorio, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said Davis had accepted an acquittal on Thursday.
David Perman, Davis's lawyer, declined to comment on Thursday.
In Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, dozens of girls and women may be forced into prostitution, investigators say, looking for clues in Ohio and Wisconsin.
FBI is investigating.
"It could happen to any teenage girl in the United States," said Avery Friedman, a 17-year-old lawyer. year-
The old man and her family.
He said the girl did not fit the image of someone else who was drawn to the ring.
Wayne County prosecutor Michael Dugan said the kidnapping could be unusual for the gang.
Instead, he said they often bring girls and women. like the 20-year-old —
They promised to sell jewelry on the street. The 20-year-
Old told police that she was attracted to the ring by the prospect of earning $300 to $500 a day.
But after shuttling between Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago, she said she had been held at her home in Detroit since November and was forced to have sex.
Prosecutors say
It's like hiring girls and women as prostitutes with tactics.
This includes physical and sexual assault, as well as cultivating what dugen calls "friendship or family feelings" among the people in the ring ".
Davis and others allegedly used what they called a "violation" at home.
Authorities say that if a woman or girl does not sell enough jewelry or engage in sex in a place known as a "club" in the west of the city, men and women beat her side.
The department has been investigating the alleged sexual gang since reports of kidnapping six to seven months ago.
Several other men were kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution, police said.
According to the Detroit Free News, the first time police saw Davis was in 1998, when a girl jumped out of a car in a restaurant and told police she was raped.
Prosecutors say they do not have enough evidence to accuse him.
On 2000, police answered harassing calls at a motel and found that Davis had two 15-year-old children. year-17-year-old girlyear-
An 18-year-old girlyear-old woman. The 18-year-
She said she was raped.
Others refused to cooperate and Davis was not prosecuted, police said.
Duggan said that some of the alleged victims who came out earlier were those who could not find them later.
Others were unable to provide information about where they were held.
"When it caught the attention of the authorities, the women who volunteered to join the ring stood up and said they were free to participate," he said . ".
The authorities are trying to find the "club" so they can close it.
Police are also investigating claims that some women or girls work in legal adult entertainment businesses.
Davis is held in each case with a deposit of $1 million and will face life imprisonment if convicted of criminal sex charges.