(WWJ) Two people are behind bars as authorities hunt for a third suspect wanted in connection with human trafficking in Oakland County.
Lavonte Sampson of Harper Woods and Chrystal Forgays of Warren have been arrested and charged with several felony counts, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office.
Police are still searching for a third suspect, identified as Carl Lorenzo Perkins (above photo, at left).
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the trio is accused of getting underage girls addicted to drugs, and luring them into prostitution.
Investigators uncovered thousands of ads for prostitution as teenage girls were being trafficked online in Metro Detroit, according to McDonald. She said a large-scale investigation found that these three suspects were selling their young victims for sex at Madison Heights motels.
McDonald said human trafficking is "lucrative business," and that it's happening on a local level.
“I know that many people think human trafficking is something that only happens somewhere else; they think of women held against their will in a run-down neighborhood or some foreign country,” McDonald said, at a news conference Tuesday.
“Let me be quite clear that that image is not accurate. This crime is happening right here in Oakland County," she said. "These are cases where we have teenage women — no, teenage girls, actually — being trafficked into prostitution, children exploited in the worst way imaginable by adults who trade their bodies for cash."
Locally. McDonald said authorities have seen cases involving girls as young as 9 years old; and that the average age of victims targeted is 13.
And while people may picture kids getting grabbed in parking lots, she said that's not typically the way this happens.
"The pandemic has...complicated this situation and I think it has made children more vulnerable," McDonald said, adding that unsupervised kids are being targeted online, or groomed by people they know.
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Sampson and Forgays were arraigned in the 43rd District Court on Feb. 1 in the follow counts: one count of human trafficking of a minor for commercial sexual activity; one count of conducting a criminal enterprise; two counts of transportation of another person for purpose of prostitution; one count of accepting earnings from prostitution; one count of human trafficking enterprise; and one count of computer crime.
Sampson was issued a $300,000 cash bond conditioned on no-contact with victims, witnesses, or co-defendants, as well as GPS monitoring. Forgays was issued a $250,000 cash bond with the same conditions.
Tips are wanted from the public to help find Perkins. He is described as a Black male, 5’10” tall and and 160 lbs., and was last seen in Detroit.
Anyone who spots this wanted man or who knows of his whereabouts is asked to call the Madison Heights Police Department at 248-585-2100.
Reaching out to those who are suffering from these crimes, McDonald added: "To every girl, every boy, every woman, or man in Oakland County who is being abused or exploited, there is a way out. There is hope."
She said the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office is here to help you, and that if you are a victim, you will be treated as such — and will not go to jail.
McDonald added: "And to every man or woman who is currently engaged in sex trafficking, or considering engaging in this crime, know that we will find you, and we will ensure you face justice.”
If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text "HELP" to 233733.