How a theft call led to a Gujarat man's arrest in US over sex trafficking of minors
The two minor girls, aged 15 and 16, were brought to AmericInn hotel in Nebraska last year where they were instructed to have sex with hotel staff "for a reduced room rate". They were told they had no choice "but to engage in sex acts as directed".
A 27-year-old Indian man has been jailed in the United States (US) on two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, said officials. The man has been identified as Kavankumar Patel, who hails from Gujarat, and he faces deportation after completing his prison sentence.
The case had surfaced on January 6 last year after the Omaha Police Department received a complaint of a theft after which a probe was launched. During the investigation, officials found two minors, aged 15 and 16, who had been brought to the AmericInn hotel in Nebraska.
The girls told officials that they were told to have sex with hotel staff "for a reduced room rate or they would be kicked out of the hotel". Two of the hotel staff had even paid the trafficker to have sex with one of the minors, while another employee had sex with the other minor.
Patel, who was an employee at the hotel, accepted that he used money from the hotel drawer to pay the traffickers to have sex with one of the minors. Following this, the traffickers and minors were permitted to stay at the hotel for several days.
Minors were told they had 'no choice'
The minors told officials that they were told they had no choice "but to engage in sex acts as directed".
“The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will never tire of working as hard as we need to work to protect the most vulnerable victims in our communities,” said United States Attorney Lesley Woods. “The Homeland Security Task Force rescued these children from a living nightmare, and anyone with knowledge or suspicion of human trafficking in our communities should reach out to state or federal law enforcement immediately to report those concerns and to be part of the effort to free all of Nebraska’s victims of human trafficking.”
Patel was illegally staying in the US and he now faces deportation once he completes his prison sentence. Other than him, the attorney's office said officials have also charged three traffickers, identified as Eduardo Jose Perdomo, Michel Martinez-Gonzalez and Alfredo Zambrano-Hurtado. Two Indian-origin hotel staff, Sumit Chaudhari and Vishal Goswami, were also charged.
The Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) "places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States," the Attorney's Office in Nebraska said in a release dated May 28.
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