News
Child Porn Distributor Arrested (04/09/2013 @ 20:23:39)
U.S. police arrest 'world's number one distributor of child pornography'... as he was sitting at his desk watching itJohn Shearen, 51, was arrested by authorities at his home in Leesburg, Florida in possession of up to 1,000,000 video and images of child pornography
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it appeared he had downloaded the most child pornography in the state of Florida in history
'He is the No. 1 person that can distribute child pornography throughout the world,' said the FDLE. 'And he’s been doing it.'
By James Nye
PUBLISHED: 17:22 EST, 4 April 2013 | UPDATED: 04:42 EST, 5 April 2013
A man described by police as the number one distributor of child pornography worldwide has been arrested at his gated lakeside home in Florida - sat at his basement computer downloading videos.
John Shearen was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on his 51st birthday in possession of up to 1 million images and videos.
Authorities said that Shearen was actively transferring the images and video to DVDs and in addition to the pornography also found children's underwear which he informed agents he wears.
FDLE agents said that Shearen was only identified last month while they were monitoring child pornography websites and when they entered his home he was sat at his computer procuring more images.
'We were able to seize anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million images and videos. They were stored on several computers and external hard drives to actually being transferred from the computers to separate DVDs, and he has a DVD collection of child pornography,' said Special Agent Jeff Duncan to WFTV.com.
'So, we have a lot of work to do. Those initial cases will be charged today.'
'One of our concerns is we located several items, outerwear of juvenile girls, including bathing suits, in the residence,' said Duncan.
'Our concern is, number one, making sure we don't have any child victims in this area.'
So far he has been charged with 20 counts each of distribution and possession of child pornography, but authorities said that they fully expect that count to rise as the investigation continues.
They compared the two dozen counts the reported Navy employee is charged with to the 'tip of the iceberg'.
'He is the No. 1 person that can distribute child pornography throughout the world,' said Duncan. 'And he’s been doing it.'
Investigators said that Shearen had downloaded images of children aged between six-years to 12-years old.
One of Shearen's neighbors said that while he knew him, he never entered his house.
'He never let anyone in his house,' said Robby Pinder.
'I liked him as a human being. He seemed like he was alright, but you don't know somebody until you get to know them.'
Other residents said that they were relieved that Shearen had been caught.
'Actually, I'm relieved,' said Christina Rodriguez, who lives in the complex. 'I have a four year old and he likes to run around and play around, and just the thought of a guy being that dangerous.'
Mom pimped 6 yr old girl (02/02/2013 @ 20:05:33)
Police in Columbus, Ga., arrested 39-year-old Dalina Nicholas, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on March 1 on a warrant accusing her of child neglect. She was locked in the Muscogee County Jail. Quinn Brooks, 56, and John Hagans, 47, are behind bars in Jacksonville Beach in connection with the case, accused of paying for sexual favors with the child. A third man, 51-year-old Norman Thompson, is being sought by police.
According to a report by Jacksonville Beach police, the investigation into the case began on Jan. 7, when a homeless man flagged down a patrolling police cruiser. The man said he knew of a young girl, later identified as Nicholas' daughter, who was being sexually abused by several men, police said.
The homeless man told police the abuse had been ongoing for about two years and said that he had witnessed Nicholas use drugs. The man also said he was present once when Nicholas allegedly accepted $20 from a man and told her daughter to get naked and lay on a living room mattress so the man could have oral sex with her, police said.
The witness, according to police, said the girl had confided in him that she was being sexually abused and asked him to "help her make it stop."
Nicholas, confronted by investigators at her Jacksonville Beach apartment, denied her daughter had been sexually abused. She told police that she had been abused as a child and would "know if her daughter was going through the same thing," the police report states.
The 6-year-old girl told police detailed accounts of sexual abuse that she had suffered in her home, by various adult males, police said.
Brooks, Hagans and Thompson were identified as abusers of the girl, police said. Brooks and Hagans denied wrongdoing. Both men have been charged with capital sexual battery and are being held without bond. Authorities have been unable to locate Thompson.
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Bruce Thomason did not immediately return a call for comment from The Huffington Post Wednesday. He recently expressed his shock about the case during an interview with The Florida Times-Union.
"I can't think of an adjective that's bad enough to describe" the allegations, Thomason told the newspaper. "Anyone who would harm a child is just beneath contempt."
Nicholas' Jacksonville Beach neighbors were equally disturbed.
"It's disgusting. I can't even fathom the thought," neighbor April Wishman told News4jax.com. "I have a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old. I can't fathom it."
News4jax.com also reported the Florida Department of Children and Families has placed the victim and her 1-year-old brother with a relative. The children are receiving counseling, the station said.
Nicholas' mother, Debbie Morgan, did not return a call for comment Wednesday. Speaking with WTEV-TV, she defended her daughter.
"They're not true. They're totally not true," Morgan said of the charges.
Morgan alleged her daughter had been sexually abused by drug dealers and was a prisoner inside her home.
"I was told by my granddaughter that my daughter was beat by these people. I was told by my granddaughter that her mother would sneak her out of the apartment bare footed at night trying to hide from these people," said Morgan.
Jacksonville Beach police said they have found no evidence to support Morgan's claims.
"No, not at all," Sgt. Thomas Bingham told HuffPost. "We believe this woman willfully and intentionally allowed other adults to perform sexual acts on her child."
Nicholas waived a Monday extradition hearing in Georgia and will be brought back to Florida later this week.
Anyone with information on Norman Thompson's whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/dalina-nicholas-sex_n_1327686.html
Teen Sex Slave Rescued (01/14/2013 @ 01:57:12)
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne spoke with the deputy who offered to help the girl. He said she was his daughter’s age.
“That day was probably the most rewarding day of my interdiction career,” Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Patrick Paquette said.
Paquette said a Georgia state trooper called him and his partner for backup Wednesday on Interstate 20 at a traffic stop. He didn't dream when he took the call that he'd help free a 17-year-old from sex-trafficking bondage.
“She gave me a look that I'll never forget. I'll never forget that as a parent, for a child to look at you and ask you for help, that's my job,” Paquette said.
He said the girl was with Johnathan Nathaniel Kelly, and they were heading west toward Atlanta. While the trooper dealt with Kelly, Paquette said he noticed indicators he'd been trained to look for by the GBI's child sex trafficking unit, so he called an agent assigned to the area.
“She actually made the comment on the way to the hospital, she felt like God had answered her prayers and that she had prayed to be rescued,” GBI Agent Renea Green told Winne.
Green and another agent, Sara Thomas, said they believe the girl was sexually exploited before age 12. She had been with Kelly at first voluntarily but against her will since November, and there was at least one pimp before, the agents said.
“He used the relationship that he had with her,” Thomas said.
She said Kelly, who is from Decatur, maintained he never forced the girl to do anything, but he has been transported to Richmond County to face charges.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/gbi-teen-sex-slave-rescued-traffic-stop/nTtNy/
Child Trafficking in Atlanta (08/11/2012 @ 01:47:27)
We spent several nights on the streets in Metro Atlanta. We went to communities to the north, to the south and in between. What we witnessed was unbelievable and happening all around us. Children being bought and traded for sex.
"I started off prostituting at age 11," said one young woman who did not want to be identified. She asked us to call her 'Beautiful.'
Beautiful, like so many young women and men who are lured into prostitution, ran away from home.
"I met this guy, and he swore it could be a better life for me!" Beautiful told us.
It was a life of hell.
"I ended up sleeping with one of his friends. I didn't know it was for money in the beginning but after one friend become two friends and two friends became five friends and five friends became," Beautiful trails off, lost in thought.
She was trapped in a life of prostitution and stayed in it for 6 years until she managed to escape.
"This is a problem that is not reported, that the average people don't see, and when they hear about it, they are so disgusted. It's so distasteful they couldn't possibly think it's true. But it's true," said Ernie Allen with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"They can find 500 girls on the streets in Atlanta in any one given evening," Lisa Williams, with Living Water for Girls, told us when we sat down with her to discuss the problem. She found 'Beautiful' and helped get her off the streets.
"Before Miss Lisa Williams, I didn't really receive help," Beautiful said, her eyes welling up as she relayed what had happened to her.
She was traded from pimp to pimp and kept in hotel rooms while men were paraded through.
"You just feel filthy that these men are doing this to you," she said.
When she was 14, 'Beautiful' got into a car with a John and she thought her life would end.
"He held a screwdriver to my neck and basically raped me," she told us.
Every once in a while some girls are rescued. In June the FBI conducted a sweep across the nation including one in Gwinnett County where 3 juveniles, held in hotel rooms, were pulled to safety and 5 Johns were arrested. It was part of an ongoing sweep called the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which so far has resulted in more than 1000 convictions.
Changes in Georgia law now treat the woman forced into prostitution as victims and changes have also been made to beef up the laws to help prosecutors go after human traffickers with tougher penalties.
"For Atlanta SVU we've always treated these children as victims," said Sgt. Ernest Britton with the Atlanta Police Department's Special Victims Unit and Child Exploitation.
"They keep a lot of the underaged off the streets out of view because they know if we know about it, we'll be able to shut them down quickly," he said.
We witnessed it. We were tipped off to a location in North Atlanta about what appeared to be a legitimate business. We watched men pull up as very young girls were paraded out to their cars.
We've since reported what we saw to authorities.
"If they do not produce per se a certain amount of money, they risk being beaten," Sgt. Britton said.
"I've been beaten; I've been pistol whipped by pimps. Bottom line I didn't make quota," said 'Beautiful. As she talked, she began to tell us more and more graphic detail about her horrible experiences.
"I feel like I'm a survivor because I lived to tell my story," she said.
She's now working on getting a college education.
Fortunately, Atlanta has been making great strides in offering assistance. There are now many advocacy groups like Living Water for Girls and others who rescue young prostitutes from the streets and who work to help the FBI track known locations where kids are being sold.
"They are demanding our attention, they are our children and these are our daughters," said Williams who encourages young women and boys to escape and seek help.
http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=251543
Courtney Dow Interview (08/05/2012 @ 05:19:19)
Dreamboard members arrested (05/24/2012 @ 06:16:16)
Total of 42 individuals convicted as a result of Operation Delego
WASHINGTON — A Wisconsin man was found guilty yesterday in the Western District of Louisiana for his participation in an international criminal network, known as Dreamboard, dedicated to the sexual abuse of children and the creation and dissemination of graphic images and videos of child sexual abuse throughout the world.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of ICE's Cyber Crime Center, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, CEOS's High Technology Investigative Unit and 35 HSI offices in the United States and 11 HSI attaches offices in 13 countries around the world, with assistance from numerous local and international law enforcement agencies across the United States and throughout the world.
John Wyss, aka "Bones," 55, of Monroe, Wis., was found guilty of one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography and one count of conspiracy to distribute child pornography. Evidence presented at trial revealed that Wyss had been an active member of Dreamboard, an online child pornography bulletin board, since January 2008 and had made numerous postings revealing that he had produced child pornography by capturing images of minors engaging in sexually explicit activity via webcam, including one video in which adult males were engaged in sexual intercourse with prepubescent girls.
Wyss was charged in an indictment unsealed Aug. 3, 2011.The charges against Wyss are the result of Operation Delego, an ongoing investigation that was launched in December 2009 that targeted individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard. Dreamboard was a private, members-only, online bulletin board that was created and operated in an environment designed to avoid law enforcement detection. It promoted pedophilia and encouraged the sexual abuse of very young children.
"Wyss and the other conspirators of the nightmare called Dreamboard mistakenly believed that they could commit heinous crimes against children and hide in the shadows," said ICE Director John Morton. "Criminals with this kind of depravity in mind should know that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is ever vigilant. For every tactic taken to evade law enforcement, we will adapt our strategies to find them and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
A total of 72 individuals, including Wyss, have been charged as a result of Operation Delego. To date, 55 of the 72 charged defendants have been arrested in the United States and abroad. Forty-one individuals have pleaded guilty and Wyss was convicted after a four-day jury trial. Twenty-five of the 41 individuals who have pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy have been sentenced to prison and have received sentences ranging between 15 and 37 years. Seventeen of the 72 charged individuals remain at large and are known only by their online identities. Efforts to identify and apprehend these individuals continue. Operation Delego represents the largest prosecution to date in the United States of individuals who participated in an online bulletin board conceived and operated for the sole purpose of promoting child sexual abuse, disseminating child pornography and evading law enforcement.
According to court documents and information presented at trial, Wyss and other Dreamboard members traded graphic images and videos of adults molesting children 12-years-old and under, often violently, and they collectively created a massive private library of images of child sexual abuse. The international group prized and encouraged the creation of new images and videos of child sexual abuse – numerous Dreamboard members sexually abused children, produced images and videos of the abuse, and shared the images and videos with other members of Dreamboard.
"The jury found Mr. Wyss guilty of participating in a horrifying online community dedicated to the sexual exploitation of young children," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. "This community encouraged members throughout the world to produce images of extreme child sexual abuse and to share these images with one another. Mr. Wyss is the 42nd Dreamboard member to be convicted for his participation in the child exploitation enterprise. These convictions send a strong message to other child predators that they cannot hide their criminal acts on the Internet."
"This defendant, and people like him, who advertise, participate, distribute or exploit children to access child pornography work hard to evade law enforcement and disguise what they are doing," said U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley of the Western District of Louisiana. "Their sole purpose is to view children hurting for their own sexual satisfaction. We want them to know, that like Mr. Wyss, they will face serious consequences for their actions. Our office will continue to vigorously prosecute this type of criminal activity to the fullest extent of the law. We want the community to know that the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice, along with our federal, state and local partners, are committed to protecting children from these vile criminals."
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dreamboard members employed a variety of measures designed to conceal their criminal activity from detection by law enforcement. Members communicated using aliases or "screen names," rather than their actual names. Links to child pornography posted on Dreamboard were required to be encrypted with a password that was shared only with other members. Members accessed the board via proxy servers, which routed Internet traffic through other computers in order to disguise a user's actual location and prevent law enforcement from tracing Internet activity. Dreamboard members also encouraged the use of encryption programs on their computers, which password-protect computer files to prevent law enforcement from accessing them in the event of a court-authorized search.
Membership was tightly controlled by the administrators of the bulletin board, who required prospective members to upload child pornography portraying children 12 years of age or younger when applying for membership. Once they were given access, members were required continually to upload images of child sexual abuse in order to maintain membership. Members who failed to follow this rule would be expelled from the group.
According to court documents, Dreamboard members were divided into groups based on status and ranking. The highest level of membership was Super VIP. Individuals who obtained this title had created new images of child pornography by molesting children and shared those images with the board administrators. The next level was the VIP rank. Individuals in the lowest level of membership were called Members. Those in the lower ranks could only access a limited quantity of child pornography on the bulletin board. The higher the rank, the more material was available to the member. Individuals advanced to higher levels of membership by providing child abuse images that the individual had produced, providing a large number of images, or providing images that had never been seen before.
The bulletin board included rules of conduct that were printed in English, Russian, Japanese and Spanish. The rules required prospective members to upload material depicting children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit activity. Approved members were required to observe strict posting rules designed to encourage members to disseminate large quantities of child pornography, thwart efforts by law enforcement to identify members of the board, and encourage members to sexually abuse children in order to produce new material for the board. The board rules also required members to organize postings based on the type of content. One particular category was entitled "Super Hardcore." The rules for this category described in graphic language that the only posts permitted were those involving adults having violent sexual intercourse with "very young kids" who were being subjected to both physical and sexual abuse and were obviously "in distress, and or crying."
Operation Delego involved extensive international cooperation to identify and apprehend Dreamboard members abroad. Through coordination between ICE, the U.S. Department of Justice, Eurojust (the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit), and dozens of law enforcement agencies throughout the world, 20 Dreamboard members across five continents and 14 countries have been arrested to date outside the United States, including two of the five lead administrators of the board. Those countries include Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland. Numerous foreign investigations related to Operation Delego remain ongoing. The location and arrest of Dreamboard members abroad have led to the capture and investigation of other global targets.
Evidence obtained during the operation revealed that at least 38 children across the world were suffering sexual abuse at the hands of the members of the group. Efforts by federal, state, local and international law enforcement to locate and identify the victims of sexual abuse and exploitation by Dreamboard members are ongoing.
Operation Delego is a spinoff investigation from leads developed through "Operation Nest Egg," the prosecution of another online group dedicated to the sharing and dissemination of child pornography. Operation Nest Egg was a spinoff investigation developed from leads related to another international investigation, "Operation Joint Hammer," which targeted transnational rings of child pornography trafficking.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John "Luke" Walker of the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorneys Keith Becker and Anitha Ibrahim of CEOS. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.
The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.
http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1205/120518washingtondc2.htm
Former stripper helps women escape sex industry (05/02/2012 @ 06:59:42)
It may seem like an unlikely place to find a group of women from a Rockdale County church. But for the team led by Kasey McClure, it is ground zero for their ministry, 4 Sarah.
McClure, a former stripper, began the nonprofit organization to help girls escape what she said is a dangerous and destructive industry.
McClure said it leads to alcohol and drug abuse and a life of crime.
On two Saturday nights in March and April, CBS Atlanta followed the missionaries as they stopped at strip clubs, sex spas and motels.
Armed with gift bags filled with treats, a Bible and information about resources, the McClure and her team speak to the girls who sell sex for a living.
"Our main goal is to get them out of course, but we know that it takes a while. Sometimes they're not ready. A lot of times they're not ready. It might be years before we see results for one girl we work with," McClure said.
McClure said some girls believe stripping or prostituting is the only way to make money to support themselves and sometimes children.
McClure tries to earn the girls' trust by not judging and returning month after month with gifts and advice.
As the team drives down the street, they pull over to hand gift bags to prostitutes walking on the shoulder of the road.
"You're beautiful. You deserve better," McClure said to one girl.
McClure said many of the girls working in the sex industry come from poverty and a history of sexual abuse.
McClure and her team became hopeful when they met "Amber" at a motel.
At the time, Amber, 19, said she was 9-months pregnant and turning tricks up to 15 times a day.
"I knew I had to do something to survive," Amber said. "I don't want to do it. The only thing that gets me through is I find a hole in the wall I look at it. When I'm done I count my money, go pay for my room and go to sleep."
The women pray with Amber, give her gifts for her baby and offer to get her a safe place to live.
Amber said "thank you," but walked away without accepting their offer.
McClure said she's not surprised. It takes time for women like Amber to trust them.
"Hopefully we touched her life today and she's willing to listen to what we have to say. Even if it's not today she'll remember this night and later in the future she'll know God truly loves her," McClure said.
Pedophiles want same rights as homosexuals (04/30/2012 @ 00:51:11)
by Jack Minor –
Using the same tactics used by “gay” rights activists, pedophiles have begun to seek similar status arguing their desire for children is a sexual orientation no different than heterosexual or homosexuals.
Critics of the homosexual lifestyle have long claimed that once it became acceptable to identify homosexuality as simply an “alternative lifestyle” or sexual orientation, logically nothing would be off limits. “Gay” advocates have taken offense at such a position insisting this would never happen. However, psychiatrists are now beginning to advocate redefining pedophilia in the same way homosexuality was redefined several years ago.
In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. A group of psychiatrists with B4U-Act recently held a symposium proposing a new definition of pedophilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders of the APA.
B4U-Act calls pedophiles “minor-attracted people.” The organization's website states its purpose is to, “help mental health professionals learn more about attraction to minors and to consider the effects of stereotyping, stigma and fear.”
In 1998 The APA issued a report claiming “that the ‘negative potential’ of adult sex with children was ‘overstated’ and that ‘the vast majority of both men and women reported no negative sexual effects from childhood sexual abuse experiences.”
Pedophilia has already been granted protected status by the Federal Government. The Matthew Shephard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act lists “sexual orientation” as a protected class; however, it does not define the term.
Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying that “pedophilia is not covered as an orientation;” however, the amendment was defeated by Democrats. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fl) stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law. “This bill addresses our resolve to end violence based on prejudice and to guarantee that all Americans, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or all of these ‘philias’ and fetishes and ‘isms’ that were put forward need not live in fear because of who they are. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this rule.”
The White House praised the bill saying, “At root, this isn't just about our laws; this is about who we are as a people. This is about whether we value one another -- whether we embrace our differences rather than allowing them to become a source of animus.”
Earlier this year two psychologists in Canada declared that pedophilia is a sexual orientation just like homosexuality or heterosexuality.
Van Gijseghem, psychologist and retired professor of the University of Montreal, told members of Parliament, "Pedophiles are not simply people who commit a small offense from time to time but rather are grappling with what is equivalent to a sexual orientation just like another individual may be grappling with heterosexuality or even homosexuality."
He went on to say, "True pedophiles have an exclusive preference for children, which is the same as having a sexual orientation. You cannot change this person’s sexual orientation. He may, however, remain abstinent."
When asked if he should be comparing pedophiles to homosexuals, Van Gijseghem replied, "If, for instance, you were living in a society where heterosexuality is proscribed or prohibited and you were told that you had to get therapy to change your sexual orientation, you would probably say that that is slightly crazy. In other words, you would not accept that at all. I use this analogy to say that, yes indeed, pedophiles do not change their sexual orientation.”
Dr. Quinsey, professor emeritus of psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, agreed with Van Gijseghem. Quinsey said pedophiles' sexual interests prefer children and, "There is no evidence that this sort of preference can be changed through treatment or through anything else."
In July, 2010 Harvard health Publications said, “Pedophilia is a sexual orientation and unlikely to change. Treatment aims to enable someone to resist acting on his sexual urges."
Linda Harvey, of Mission America, said the push for pedophiles to have equal rights will become more and more common as LGBT groups continue to assert themselves. “It’s all part of a plan to introduce sex to children at younger and younger ages; to convince them that normal friendship is actually a sexual attraction.”
Milton Diamond, a University of Hawaii professor and director of the Pacific Center for Sex and Society, stated that child pornography could be beneficial to society because, "Potential sex offenders use child pornography as a substitute for sex against children."
Diamond is a distinguished lecturer for the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. The IASHS openly advocated for the repeal of the Revolutionary war ban on homosexuals serving in the military.
The IASHS lists, on its website, a list of "basic sexual rights" that includes "the right to engage in sexual acts or activities of any kind whatsoever, providing they do not involve nonconsensual acts, violence, constraint, coercion or fraud." Another right is to, "be free of persecution, condemnation, discrimination, or societal intervention in private sexual behavior" and "the freedom of any sexual thought, fantasy or desire." The organization also says that no one should be "disadvantaged because of age."
Sex offender laws protecting children have been challenged in several states including California, Georgia and Iowa. Sex offenders claim the laws prohibiting them from living near schools or parks are unfair because it penalizes them for life.
http://www.greeleygazette.com/press/?p=11517
Miami Companions Prostitution Ring (02/28/2012 @ 05:34:09)
By Robert Snell The Detroit News
Detroit— An arrest warrant was issued Monday for a one-time porn star and prostitute employed by the Miami Companions international call-girl ring.
Nayubet Swaso could face time in prison for a variety of probation violations, according to an arrest warrant request filed Monday in federal court.
Swaso, 25, failed to get permission to move to southern Florida and gave a bogus address to a probation officer, according to court records. She also has failed to submit monthly reports and provide proof of employment.
If caught, Swaso could be brought back to Detroit for a court hearing.
She dodged a prison sentence last year after pleading guilty to a prostitution-related charge in relation to the Miami Companions call-girl ring that was busted in Metro Detroit.
At one point, Swaso operated the offshore Miami Companions call center and later became a prostitute for the multi-million-dollar network that ran from Central America to Detroit, federal prosecutors believe.
Swaso was one of several defendants in a high-profile case involving sex, millions in profits and a black book stuffed with 30,000 client names.
The U.S. Attorney's Office labeled Miami Companions one of the country's largest escort services, dispatching dozens of prostitutes to hotels and beachfront villas around the world. And Metro Detroit was one of the busiest stops on the tour.
Investigators seized a client database of more than 30,000 customers — including a rock star and a Washington lobbyist — who paid as much as $500-an-hour to have sex with Miami Companions prostitutes.
rsnell@detnews.com
(313) 222-2028
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120227/METRO/202270409/1361/Arrest-warrant-issued-for-porn-star-caught-up-in-call-girl-ring
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT - A Florida man accused of running a decade-long international prostitution ring pleaded guilty to conspiracy Thursday in federal court in Detroit, one of the cities where his business operated.
Four individuals from the Miami, Florida area have been arrested on a six-count indictment charging conspiracy to coerce and entice acts of prostitution, coercion and enticement of prostitution in the Eastern District of Michigan, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. A fifth individual was arrested on a complaint alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
Ms. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Maurice Aouate, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, Detroit Field Division; and Special Agent in Charge Brian Moskowitz, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Detroit Field Division.
The defendants included in the indictment are GREGORY CARR (a.k.a. Paul Cutlass), 43, LAURIE CARR, 39, NAYUBET LOANI SWASO, 24, and MICHELLE MATARAZZO, 36. A fifth defendant, FABIOLA CONTRERAS, 33, was arrested on a related federal complaint.
The defendants are believed to have owned and operated Miami Companions, which was, at one time, one of the largest prostitution organizations in the United States. The Miami Companions organization previously had a large presence in the Eastern District of Michigan, until agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Southeast Michigan Crimes Against Children (SEMCAC) task force made several arrests in 2009. The Miami Companions organization sent prostitutes to the Detroit. Michigan area, to include hotels in Southfield, Romulus, Novi, and Canton, for an extended period of time starting in the early 2000s until March 2009. Michigan was one of the most popular destinations for Miami Companion prostitutes.
The CARRS are alleged to have owned and operated the Miami Companions prostitution organization since 2001. The indictment also alleges that MICHELLE MATARAZZO served as an office manager, coordinating travel for the women, appointments with the clients (i.e., johns) who used their services, deposits from the women into Miami Companions bank accounts, advertisements, and web postings, among other duties. NAYUBET LOANI SWASO was the manager of the overseas call center the Carrs used for a period of time to coordinate travel of the women to different U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis, and calls from clients to schedule “dates” with the women. It is further alleged that FABIOLA CONTRERAS currently assists in managing the affairs of the organization and owns bank accounts to which the proceeds of the prostitution activities for the organization were being deposited.
The CARRS are believed to have laundered more than $4 million in proceeds from their prostitution organization in numerous bank accounts in different names in order to conceal their illegal activities. In addition, the CARRS transferred millions of dollars to overseas bank accounts in order to promote their prostitution organization by paying for employees to work in their call centers in Panama and Costa Rica, and rental payments for exotic beach houses, where clients exchanged money for sex.
The defendants were arrested on Wednesday, July 21, in the Miami, Florida region, with the exception of NAYUBET LOANI SWASO, who was arrested in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are scheduled to appear in the Eastern District of Michigan on August 11, 2010. The indictment also includes a forfeiture count.
http://detroit.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/de072110b.htm
NightLight Atlanta on Pure Passion (01/10/2012 @ 18:03:37)
Voice Today on Pure Passion (02/14/2012 @ 04:43:13)
WellSpring Living on Pure Passion (03/05/2012 @ 05:22:44)
http://vimeo.com/WellSpring
WellSpring on Fox News (02/14/2012 @ 04:25:03)
Wellspring Living has created two safe homes for victims in Georgia. One home is strictly for girls and teenagers, where the victims sometimes come in as young as 12. The second home is a safe place for adult women -- they range in age from 18 to 35. But they all have something in common: they are survivors.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/08/WellSpring
Hope House CBN Interview (02/13/2012 @ 05:08:26)
Natasha Herzig rescued (11/23/2010 @ 00:00:40)
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2010/11/19/behar.natasha.herzig.intv.hln?hpt=Mid
