CITY SEX SLAVES
Trenton teens arrested for holding children against their will and selling them for sex
TRENTON >> Two city men were arrested Tuesday for their role in an ongoing conspiracy to sell underage girls for sex using the website Backpage.com.
Officials say this is the third time they’ve investigated 19-year-old Altariq Mitchell for human trafficking and sexual assault. His accomplice, 19-year-old Daquan Patton, is accused of helping Mitchell sell two of the girls for sex.
“These females were forced into a human trafficking ring by these two guys who used threats and physical force to manipulate the young girls into conducting these sex acts,” Lt. Rolando Ramos said.
Officials say, earlier this month, police received information regarding a 12-yearold girl who was being held against her will inside an abandoned house on Monmouth Place while being forced to engage in sex. When police arrived at the house, the girl was nowhere to be found. But detectives eventually spoke to the victim who provided a saddening account of what happened.
The victim told police she met Mitchell through Facebook, and that they “hung out” a few times before things became violent. Mitchell eventually hit the young girl, police say, and manipulated her using “mind games,” while preventing her from leaving
his presence to visit friends.
Mitchell then created an advertisement on Backpage. com soliciting males to have sex with the girl, according to officials who say she initially declined to participate. Mitchell allegedly told the girl she owed him money, and that she must have sex with strangers
to pay off her debt. When the girl refused, officials say, Mitchell hit her and wouldn’t let her leave the abandoned house on Monmouth Place.
Eventually the girl escaped from Mitchell, but he convinced her to see him again.
After days of more mind games and manipulation, cops say, Mitchell forced the girl to have sex with him. Officials say the victim was forced to have sex with Mitchell at least three times during this ordeal.
Mitchell also booked numerous “dates” for the girl to have sex with men who answered the online ad, but officials say she only received money from a few of the strangers.
After the girl received money from the men, Mitchell bought her food and then set her up on another date, according to police.
Officials say Mitchell’s cousin, identified as Patton, was present during most of this, but did not have sex with the victim.
However, prior to this incident with the 12-year-old, Mitchell and Patton were under investigation for allegedly doing the same thing with a 15-year-old girl, with whom they both had sex in April. In that April incident, police say, Mitchell and Patton were the only two allowed to have sex with the teenage girl for free; all others were required to pay.
Mitchell was also arrested in January and charged with prostitution and human trafficking offenses after he allegedly gave a 16-year-old girl a cell phone so she could use Facebook and the website Backpage.com to advertise for sex.
Mitchell and Patton are both charged with two counts each of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and human trafficking.