A California man who allegedly marketed an Ohio teenager for business intercourse acts on-line throughout the world earlier than authorities rescued the sufferer from a Cambridge resort is slated to look in Boston federal courtroom.
Authorities on Monday arrested Ibrahim Abdul-Alim Bin Hajj Yahya Abdul-Malik, 37, of San Jose, in California earlier than the suspect appeared within the Northern District of California on a cost of intercourse trafficking.
In accordance with U.S. Legal professional for Massachusetts Leah Foley, Malik will seem in federal courtroom in Boston at a later date.
The 17-year-old sufferer had been reported lacking from her Ohio dwelling final August earlier than legislation enforcement discovered final December that the minor had been marketed for business intercourse acts on-line within the Boston space, in accordance with charging paperwork.
Investigators recognized commercials that contained pictures of the sufferer and a telephone quantity used to “arrange commercial sex encounters.” Subsequently, legislation enforcement responded to the advert in an “undercover capacity” on Dec. 11, and the telephone quantity organized a “commercial sex date at a hotel in Cambridge.”
“There, law enforcement recovered the minor victim and seized her iPhone as evidence,” in accordance with a launch Foley’s workplace issued on Wednesday.
Malik allegedly started trafficking the sufferer in different states across the center of final November as he posted “commercial sex advertisements … on various websites,” reportedly elevating the sufferer’s age to “falsely indicate that she was 20 years old.”
“During a search of the minor victim’s phone, law enforcement allegedly located messages from Malik about the minor victim engaging in commercial sex acts with sex buyer,” prosecutors stated.
“On multiple occasions, it is alleged that Malik directed the minor victim to have sex buyer payments sent to a Zelle account he controlled,” Foley’s workplace continued. “After the sex buyer sent the payment, it is alleged that Malik would confirm receipt of the money and keep all of the profits.”
Investigators additional discovered that Malik, who may face a minimal of 10 years to life in jail, allegedly fled the Boston space for San Jose within the early morning hours of the day after the undercover operation final December.
The case comes as lawmakers and hospitality business leaders in Massachusetts press for human trafficking recognition coaching in any respect Bay State resorts.
An occasion held on the State Home on Wednesday highlighted companion laws that may mandate such coaching for all resort workers in Massachusetts.
State Sen. Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who’s a lead sponsor of the trouble, stated he believes the Massachusetts migrant disaster and the state’s use of resorts as shelter websites have made the human trafficking drawback a “lot worse.”
“Anybody who wants to tell me that there isn’t a whole lot of trafficking going on at these shelter sites is naive,” Montigny stated. “I intend to make sure that if we are going to continue (funding) we are going to require the proper training, the proper oversight.”
