Woman accused of sex trafficking denies accusations in jail interview

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Florida woman is being held at the Virginia Beach jail on sex trafficking charges. Today, she is speaking out about the accusations against her to the News 3 investigative team.

On March 6, Virginia Beach police were called to an Oceanfront hotel for domestic violence.

A search warrant says they encountered a woman who said she was forced into human sex trafficking by a 38-year-old woman from Florida. Three days later, police arrested this suspect in Hampton.

News 3's Margaret Kavanagh met with her at the Virginia Beach prison. She denies the accusations.

“I wasn't sex trafficking with anyone. He was a friend of mine and we were both in prostitution,” she said.

She admits she has worked as a prostitute for years, but says she is not a trafficker. She says she knows firsthand what it means to be a victim of trafficking and the violence that comes with it. WTKR does not identify individuals who report being victims of human trafficking.

“It's not something I would wish on anyone. I've never done anything to them by force,” she said.

Court records indicate she had traveled to New York, Virginia and Florida to work as a prostitute. She says she has traveled the United States for the past 15 years.

“I was trafficked across many states in the United States, multiple states. Probably 36 states that I prostituted myself in,” she said.

Samaritan House, a nonprofit organization, helps survivors locally. They say Hampton Roads is a hub for human trafficking, ranking 15th nationally for trafficking cases.

“We see a lot of forced prostitution and sex trafficking in our hotels and motels,” said Robin Gauthier, executive director of Samaritan House.

She says traffickers will move their victims from one place to another.

“If they can move them, they’re less likely to get caught,” Gauthier said. “So we really need the public [to know] that if something seems strange or doesn't seem right in a hotel or motel, tell someone…let an information line know.”

Samaritan House will hopefully open a place for young people who have been trafficked, called The Hallows, this fall.

Gauthier says the idea came after a 14-year-old survivor showed up at their facility for detox several years ago.

“She had five sexually transmitted diseases in her throat. That's how sick she was. I said, we've got to do something about this. That's what motivated me to build The Hallows.” , said Gauthier.

We have a local human trafficking task force in Hampton Roads. You can report any suspicious activity to the police or the National Human Trafficking Hotline. We have more information on our website.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES:

For more information on the resources recommended by the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task ForceClick here.

For more information on help Samaritan House provided, click here. If you are a victim of violence, Samaritan House has a 24/7 helpline has 757-430-2120.

THE National Human Trafficking Hotline is also available 24/7 at 888-373-7888. The hotline has tips on how to get help, report a tip and more, available here.