Major Sex Trafficking Ring Preyed on Local Women and Young Girls

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Aug 25, 2011 10:00PM

Authorities have arrested nine people after breaking up a major sex trafficking ring that was preying on local women and girls as young as 12 years old. During the 18-month-long undercover investigation called “Operation Little Girl Lost,” they uncovered a complex organization that recruited girls from the CTA and from grocery stores.

They used the internet to arrange encounters, as well as making the girls walk the streets. They forced the girls to have sex on a daily basis and give all of the money to the pimps at the threat of being beaten, whipped, branded with tattoos or stuffed in car trunks.

Eight men and one women were arrested. Seven of the men have ties to gangs on the south and west sides. The Sun-Times writes:

"Gang members are not just selling drugs any longer. They're selling children and young women for sex right here in our own backyard," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said at a news conference announcing the charges Wednesday.

"These offenders first prey on their vulnerabilities such as poverty, homelessness or addiction and then force them into a violent and demeaning cycle of violence."

Wire tapping played an important role in the investigation, with authorities listening in to thousands of cell and landline calls. In one conversation, one of the men said any girl who reported him to the police would be "kidnapped, murdered and her body dumped in the river."

Those arrested are named as Arthur Deshazor, 29; Vincent "Snake" Davis, 39; Norman Hicks, 37; Lenaris "Lil Daddy" Brown, 25; and Katrina "Lollypop" Zaia, 24.