A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12.
See the full article from “6abc.com”
Published Friday, May 04, 2012
Verdict expected in Somali sex trafficking case The Associated Press – NASHVILLE, Tenn.
A federal jury deliberating since Monday in Tennessee is preparing to return to court in the case of nine men charged with operating a sexual trafficking ring run by Somali refugee gang members.
Officials said Friday morning that court was reconvening in Nashville to hear what the jury has to say.
The defendants are among a total of 30 who were indicted in the case that spans from Minnesota to Ohio and Tennessee.
A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12.
Defense attorneys contended the witness willingly had sex with multiple defendants and lied about it so her conservative Somali family could save face.
A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12. She cried in court as she described being taken to several apartments in around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40.
Idris Ibrahim Fahra, Andrew Kayachith and Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf were found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. The three men were also charged with child sex trafficking and attempted child sex trafficking, but only Fahra was convicted on one additional count of child sex trafficking.
…
Another witness, who was identified in court as Jane Doe No. 5, testified that she saw young women and girls being used as prostitutes in a Nashville apartment. She testified that she was being used to have sex with men in Minnesota when she was around 15 or 16 years old. But the jury did not convict anyone on counts related to her testimony.
A Somali witness identified only as Jane Doe No. 2 testified that she was used as a prostitute by gang members starting at the age of 12. She cried in court as she described being taken to several apartments in around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40.
Idris Ibrahim Fahra, Andrew Kayachith and Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf were found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. The three men were also charged with child sex trafficking and attempted child sex trafficking, but only Fahra was convicted on one additional count of child sex trafficking.
…
Another witness, who was identified in court as Jane Doe No. 5, testified that she saw young women and girls being used as prostitutes in a Nashville apartment. She testified that she was being used to have sex with men in Minnesota when she was around 15 or 16 years old. But the jury did not convict anyone on counts related to her testimony.
See the full article from “WRAL.com”
Jane Doe No. 2, who is a Somali female, described during the testimony earlier this month being taken to several apartments around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40. She said the sexual acts began at the age of 12.
She later described a trip to Nashville in 2009 with several of the gang members where she was found by police.
Defense attorneys questioned her age because her birth certificate was revealed to be fake. The jury will have to decide whether she was a juvenile when the sexual acts occurred.
Jane Doe. No. 5 testified earlier this month that she was being used to have sex with men in Minnesota when she was around 15 or 16 years old. She said she later moved to Nashville as an adult and said she saw girls and young women being used as prostitutes at a Nashville apartment.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal prosecutor says evidence provided in a sexual trafficking trial in Nashville proves there was a pattern to recruit and use young girls as prostitutes, but defense attorneys say the government did not prove the wide-ranging conspiracy alleged in the indictment.
In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent told jurors that Somali gang members recruited young girls, told them they were good at sex and that they could make money by having sex. Closing arguments are scheduled to continue Friday.
Nine defendants face federal child sex trafficking charges, but a total of 30 people were accused in an indictment that said gang members ran a large scale sex trafficking ring that operated in Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee. The other defendants could face trial at a later date.
…
Jane Doe No. 5 that she was used as a prostitute in Minneapolis before she turned 18 and that she saw young girls being used as prostitutes at an apartment in Nashville.
See the full article from “Hamilton Journal News (subscription)”
Jane Doe No. 2, who is a Somali female, described during the testimony earlier this month being taken to several apartments around suburban Minneapolis to have sex with other Somali men for money, sometimes as little as $40. She said the sexual acts began at the age of 12.
She later described a trip to Nashville in 2009 with several of the gang members where she was found by police.
Defense attorneys questioned her age because her birth certificate was revealed to be fake. The jury will have to decide whether she was a juvenile when the sexual acts occurred.
Jane Doe. No. 5 testified earlier this month that she was being used to have sex with men in Minnesota when she was around 15 or 16 years old. She said she later moved to Nashville as an adult and said she saw girls and young women being used as prostitutes at a Nashville apartment.
See the full article from “Fox News”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury will begin deliberating in Nashville on Monday in the trial of nine defendants accused in a child sexual trafficking conspiracy operated by Somali gangs.
Attorneys finished their closing arguments Friday and the jury of six men and six women will return Monday morning to start deliberations after more than two weeks of testimony.
This is the first trial stemming from an indictment that alleged 30 defendants, mostly people of Somali descent, were involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking and operated in Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee.
Defense attorneys argued that the main government witnesses, identified in court as Jane Doe No. 2 and Jane Doe No. 5, were unreliable and inconsistent. They both testified that they were used as prostitutes while juveniles.
Jimmy Kimmel, the night’s featured entertainer, also picked up on the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia, saying he told the Secret Service that for $800 he wouldn’t joke about them, “but they only offered 30.”
“If this had happened on President Clinton’s watch, you can damn well bet those Secret Service agents would have been disciplined with a very serious high five,” Kimmel said.
Eight Secret Service officers have been fired and three disciplined, and a dozen military personnel have had their security clearances suspended, in the unfolding investigation of sexual misbehavior by agents who traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, this month to set up security for Obama’s visit. The agency says it is also looking into whether agents hired prostitutes and strippers in El Salvador in advance of the president’s trip last year.
See the full article from “Fox News”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. A federal jury will begin deliberating Monday in Nashville in the trial of nine defendants accused in a child sexual trafficking conspiracy operated by Somali gangs.
Attorneys finished their closing arguments Friday and the jury of six men and six women will return Monday morning to start deliberations after more than two weeks of testimony.
This is the first trial from an indictment that alleged 30 defendants, mostly people of Somali descent, were involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking and operated in Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee.
Defense attorneys argued that the main government witnesses were unreliable and inconsistent. The witnesses testified that as juveniles, they were used as prostitutes.
See the full article from “CBS News”