Myrelle and Tyrelle Lockett, 17, of south suburban Dolton, used physical abuse to force teenage girls into having sex with strangers for cash, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office.
The recent arrest of two teenage boys who were charged with human trafficking was the first arrest of its kind by Cook County authorities, officials said.
Two brothers were each charged with three felonies: trafficking in persons for forced labor or services, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor and involuntary servitude.
Myrelle and Tyrelle Lockett, 17, of south suburban Dolton, used physical abuse to force teenage girls into having sex with strangers for cash, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office. Both teens are being held at Cook County Jail on $100,000 bond. Their next scheduled court appearance is June 14.
“This is the first time we have handled a case where we have charged teenagers with human trafficking,” Steve Patterson, a spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff’s office, told the Defender. Tyrelle was arrested May 21 outside a hotel in south suburban Lansing when he met an undercover sheriff’s police officer who had arranged to meet one of the teenage victims. Myrelle was arrested after a follow-up investigation linked him to human trafficking of teen girls, said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
“These young men took advantage of young girls and exploited them in horrific ways. Some of the girls were beaten, were controlled both physically and mentally and were forced to do things just so these young men could have some spending money,” Dart told the Defender.
Sheriff investigators said they learned about the trafficking scheme after responding to an Internet advertisement on www.backpage.com. The ads promised sex for cash and provided a picture of a girl who turned out to be one of the teenage victims.
The brothers charged as much as $300 an hour for the girls, although the girls received very little to no cash, Dart said, who added that the girls initially were romantically involved with the boys.
“Some of them began as girlfriends of the Lockett brothers and were then convinced to do things, only to be beaten when they tried to stop,” he said. “As a parent, you want to make sure young girls are aware of these types of situations and that young men fully know the consequences.” And after further investigating the brothers, Patterson said it was determined that they had used sex ads to traffic several teenage girls this year.
The boys and female victims allegedly attended an alternative high school in the south suburbs although at Defender press time authorities had not verified it.
The female victims have been referred for services with the Sheriff’s Department of Women’s Justice Services, which provides counseling, links to assistance and other rehabilitative services for at-risk women.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender.
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