A Connecticut woman sex trafficked at least five teenage girls and posted ads for them online, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Jamira Myers, a 42-year-old Hamden resident, was charged with several crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor and attempted sex trafficking of minors, the Justice Department said in a press release.
Cops began investigating Myers after a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in July. The report noted a missing 16-year-old girl had been posted on a commercial sex services site.
Investigators determined Myers used the site to advertise the girl for sexual services, the Justice Department said. She’s also accused of advertising four other girls between the ages of 14 and 17 on the site. The girls have not been publicly identified.
Myers arranged meetings between clients and the teenage girls, transported them to meetings and rented hotel rooms for the interactions, the feds said. She also instructed the girls to steal from the clients and split the money with her, according to investigators.
Myers, also known as “Chocolate,” was arrested on Oct. 10. She was charged Wednesday with sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking of minors, forced labor and attempted forced labor of minors, and obstruction and attempted obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement. She faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted.