goons going on a long vacation if convicted ....
She went by the stage name Peaches. She was one of the many sultry young women who strut, wiggle and gyrate for the leering crowds at Club Madonna, which bills itself as Miami Beach’s only all-nude strip club.
But there was something different about Peaches, something that even the most drunk clubgoer ought to have noticed.
She was only 13 years old.
The young teen, identified as D.J. in a police report, won’t be on the bill tonight.
On Monday, police and prosecutors arrested three people on charges that they forced the runaway teen into a life of prostitution and pole-dancing.
Busted were: Vilbert Jean, 37, Marlene San Vincente, 22, and DeWayne Ward, 18. Each faces charges of human trafficking, lewd and lascivious conduct on a person under 16, delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Although operators of Club Madonna were not arrested, police on Tuesday conducted a search of the premises, rifling through video surveillance equipment, ledgers, computers and external hard drives, according to a warrant.
The search and arrests adds a intriguing new twist to the decade-long feud between Leroy Griffith, who has been a club owner for 40 years, and Miami Beach City Hall. He has sued the city multiple times to try to overturn its ban on alcohol sales at fully-nude clubs such as his.
Richard Wolfe, an attorney for the club, said there was “no record” of the minor working there.
“We have no record of her signing in,” he said. “We have no payroll record of her working. All the other girls signed contracts. We have no contract from this girl.”
Miami police worked with the Miami Beach Police Department and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force to make the arrests. Florida is considered a magnet for human trafficking, and the state ranks third in terms of calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center tip line.
According to arrest forms and interviews with Griffith:
D.J. ran away from home on Dec. 10 with two 15-year old girls. They all made their way to White House Inn, a white, two-story hotel on the water in North Miami. There, they met a man identified only as AP. He offered to take the girls to a house where they could stay while on the run.
They went with AP to 335 NE 55th Ter. in Miami, where Ward, Jean and San Vincente lived. Jean “immediately noticed” that the girls seemed to be underage, and demanded they leave. The 15-year-olds did. But D.J. “insisted” she was 18, and stayed.
Three days later, AP brought a man to the house, and D.J. agreed to have sex with him for $80. She expected to get half the money, but AP took it all for himself. She also had sex with Ward on at least six different occasions.
All the while, her hosts demanded she pay rent. Ward suggested she prostitute herself on Backpage.com, a site commonly used by escort services. He offered to take her picture for an online profile. D.J. declined.
Instead, D.J. babysat San Vincente’s child one night while the 22-year-old worked as a dancer at Club Madonna. The next day, San Vincente told D.J. she could work there, too, saying “she had already spoken to the club and that she could get the minor victim a job.”
So San Vincente handed D.J. “exotic clothing” and paid for her to get her hair and nails done. San Vincente introduced her at the club as an 18-year-old.
“The minor victim was never asked, nor did she ever provide the Madonna club management any identification to verify her age,” police wrote.
Griffith said he has no evidence that D.J. worked at the club. He said a club manager normally would have checked an ID to ensure a dancer was of age and also would have had her sign a contract.
“What happened to us is one of the dancers called up and said ‘I’m going to come back and dance. Can I bring a friend?’ ” he said. “You know, there are 40 or 50 girls walking in and out of the club.”
San Vincente “tutored” D.J. “on how to work the exotic club scene and generate money.”
On one particularly profitable night, Dec. 27, she raked in $500. She didn’t get to keep it. Jean took it all.
She worked from Dec. 13 to Jan. 4. At some point, D.J.’s pimps imposed a $500-a-night quota. One night when she didn’t meet it, she was “poked” with a fork. She also was made aware that Jean kept an AK-47 assault rifle in a pile of clothes in his bedroom. One time, Ward showed her a .40-caliber pistol and warned that if she ever “got away,” her would “get her.”
Ward and San Vincente plied D.J. with marijuana and alcohol. They also monitored her every move. She was watched by surveillance cameras controlled by Ward. And she was allowed to call her mother, but only while her captors listened in, and only using a blocked number.
D.J.’s mother found her on Jan. 6 in the area of North Miami Avenue and 55th Street. D.J. spoke with Miami police, telling them they’d find refrigerators full or marijuana and also cocaine at the house. She told them Ward and Jean sold the drugs.
Police swept through the house on Monday, coming up with “findings consistent with the victim’s statement, such as the gun, the rifle and drugs.”
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — City of Miami Police in conjunction with Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office arrested three people accused of forcing a 13-year-old girl to prostitute herself and dance in an exotic dance club.
According to police, Vilbert Jean,36, Marlene San Vincente, 22, and DeWayne Ward, 18 were arrested on January 6th.
The 13-year-old had runaway from her home on December 10th. Her mother located her on January 6th in the area of North Miami Avenue and NE 55 street.
Police said, while she was being held against her will, she had been forced to prostitute herself for the benefit of her alleged exploiters. On one occasion she was forced to have sex with someone for $80.00, according to the arrest report.
Between December 13 and January 4th, she was forced to dance as an exotic nude dancer at Club Madonna in Miami Beach when she refused to engage in prostitution. While dancing , police said she earned over $1,000 which she had to surrender to her alleged exploiters.
CBS4′S Gary Nelson spoke to the owner of the club, Leroy Griffith, who said he was just as surprised as anyone.
“We are trying to find out what happened. I didn’t know anything about it until Monday, I think is when they came in with a search warrant looking for paperwork and stuff. We’re working with them. We want to get to the bottom as much as you do,” said Griffith.
San Vicente allegedly supervised and tutored her on how to work the nude club scene and how to maximize her tip earnings for the benefit of her alleged exploiters.
According to police, she was forced to have sex with Ward on more than six occasions.
The three also allegedly provided her with alcohol and large amounts of marijuana while she was under their control.
While being held captive, her alleged exploiters showed her an AK47 assault rifle and a 40 caliber handgun. She was also threatened with bodily harm if she tried to escape, according to the report.
Each member is being charged with 1 count of human trafficking,1 count of delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and lewd and lascivious conduct on a person less than 16.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle commented on the arrests saying, ”This sad case shows how quickly human traffickers locate their young prey and turn them from children into cash producing machines. Sadly, to human traffickers, destroying a helpless child’s life is unimportant when compared to the consistent flow of cash into their pockets. The people of this community will not tolerate this.”
Miami Herald staff writer Julie K. Brown contributed to this report.
She went by the stage name Peaches. She was one of the many sultry young women who strut, wiggle and gyrate for the leering crowds at Club Madonna, which bills itself as Miami Beach’s only all-nude strip club.
But there was something different about Peaches, something that even the most drunk clubgoer ought to have noticed.
She was only 13 years old.
The young teen, identified as D.J. in a police report, won’t be on the bill tonight.
On Monday, police and prosecutors arrested three people on charges that they forced the runaway teen into a life of prostitution and pole-dancing.
Busted were: Vilbert Jean, 37, Marlene San Vincente, 22, and DeWayne Ward, 18. Each faces charges of human trafficking, lewd and lascivious conduct on a person under 16, delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Although operators of Club Madonna were not arrested, police on Tuesday conducted a search of the premises, rifling through video surveillance equipment, ledgers, computers and external hard drives, according to a warrant.
The search and arrests adds a intriguing new twist to the decade-long feud between Leroy Griffith, who has been a club owner for 40 years, and Miami Beach City Hall. He has sued the city multiple times to try to overturn its ban on alcohol sales at fully-nude clubs such as his.
Richard Wolfe, an attorney for the club, said there was “no record” of the minor working there.
“We have no record of her signing in,” he said. “We have no payroll record of her working. All the other girls signed contracts. We have no contract from this girl.”
Miami police worked with the Miami Beach Police Department and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force to make the arrests. Florida is considered a magnet for human trafficking, and the state ranks third in terms of calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center tip line.
According to arrest forms and interviews with Griffith:
D.J. ran away from home on Dec. 10 with two 15-year old girls. They all made their way to White House Inn, a white, two-story hotel on the water in North Miami. There, they met a man identified only as AP. He offered to take the girls to a house where they could stay while on the run.
They went with AP to 335 NE 55th Ter. in Miami, where Ward, Jean and San Vincente lived. Jean “immediately noticed” that the girls seemed to be underage, and demanded they leave. The 15-year-olds did. But D.J. “insisted” she was 18, and stayed.
Three days later, AP brought a man to the house, and D.J. agreed to have sex with him for $80. She expected to get half the money, but AP took it all for himself. She also had sex with Ward on at least six different occasions.
All the while, her hosts demanded she pay rent. Ward suggested she prostitute herself on Backpage.com, a site commonly used by escort services. He offered to take her picture for an online profile. D.J. declined.
Instead, D.J. babysat San Vincente’s child one night while the 22-year-old worked as a dancer at Club Madonna. The next day, San Vincente told D.J. she could work there, too, saying “she had already spoken to the club and that she could get the minor victim a job.”
So San Vincente handed D.J. “exotic clothing” and paid for her to get her hair and nails done. San Vincente introduced her at the club as an 18-year-old.
“The minor victim was never asked, nor did she ever provide the Madonna club management any identification to verify her age,” police wrote.
Griffith said he has no evidence that D.J. worked at the club. He said a club manager normally would have checked an ID to ensure a dancer was of age and also would have had her sign a contract.
“What happened to us is one of the dancers called up and said ‘I’m going to come back and dance. Can I bring a friend?’ ” he said. “You know, there are 40 or 50 girls walking in and out of the club.”
San Vincente “tutored” D.J. “on how to work the exotic club scene and generate money.”
On one particularly profitable night, Dec. 27, she raked in $500. She didn’t get to keep it. Jean took it all.
She worked from Dec. 13 to Jan. 4. At some point, D.J.’s pimps imposed a $500-a-night quota. One night when she didn’t meet it, she was “poked” with a fork. She also was made aware that Jean kept an AK-47 assault rifle in a pile of clothes in his bedroom. One time, Ward showed her a .40-caliber pistol and warned that if she ever “got away,” her would “get her.”
Ward and San Vincente plied D.J. with marijuana and alcohol. They also monitored her every move. She was watched by surveillance cameras controlled by Ward. And she was allowed to call her mother, but only while her captors listened in, and only using a blocked number.
D.J.’s mother found her on Jan. 6 in the area of North Miami Avenue and 55th Street. D.J. spoke with Miami police, telling them they’d find refrigerators full or marijuana and also cocaine at the house. She told them Ward and Jean sold the drugs.
Police swept through the house on Monday, coming up with “findings consistent with the victim’s statement, such as the gun, the rifle and drugs.”
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — City of Miami Police in conjunction with Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office arrested three people accused of forcing a 13-year-old girl to prostitute herself and dance in an exotic dance club.
According to police, Vilbert Jean,36, Marlene San Vincente, 22, and DeWayne Ward, 18 were arrested on January 6th.
The 13-year-old had runaway from her home on December 10th. Her mother located her on January 6th in the area of North Miami Avenue and NE 55 street.
Police said, while she was being held against her will, she had been forced to prostitute herself for the benefit of her alleged exploiters. On one occasion she was forced to have sex with someone for $80.00, according to the arrest report.
Between December 13 and January 4th, she was forced to dance as an exotic nude dancer at Club Madonna in Miami Beach when she refused to engage in prostitution. While dancing , police said she earned over $1,000 which she had to surrender to her alleged exploiters.
CBS4′S Gary Nelson spoke to the owner of the club, Leroy Griffith, who said he was just as surprised as anyone.
“We are trying to find out what happened. I didn’t know anything about it until Monday, I think is when they came in with a search warrant looking for paperwork and stuff. We’re working with them. We want to get to the bottom as much as you do,” said Griffith.
San Vicente allegedly supervised and tutored her on how to work the nude club scene and how to maximize her tip earnings for the benefit of her alleged exploiters.
According to police, she was forced to have sex with Ward on more than six occasions.
The three also allegedly provided her with alcohol and large amounts of marijuana while she was under their control.
While being held captive, her alleged exploiters showed her an AK47 assault rifle and a 40 caliber handgun. She was also threatened with bodily harm if she tried to escape, according to the report.
Each member is being charged with 1 count of human trafficking,1 count of delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and lewd and lascivious conduct on a person less than 16.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle commented on the arrests saying, ”This sad case shows how quickly human traffickers locate their young prey and turn them from children into cash producing machines. Sadly, to human traffickers, destroying a helpless child’s life is unimportant when compared to the consistent flow of cash into their pockets. The people of this community will not tolerate this.”
Miami Herald staff writer Julie K. Brown contributed to this report.
hope they get more than 15 years