3 minors used as sex workers in Columbia, around SC. 2 women face life in prison
Two South Carolina women are facing life in federal prison after participating in a conspiracy involving three minors who were recruited and exploited as commercial sex workers.
Monesha Tatayana Lapri Gary, 24, of Clinton, and Rebecca Melanie Perry, 30, of Columbia, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Sherri A. Lydon in Columbia to human trafficking conspiracy for working with two other defendants — Antonia Marquis Nicholson and Terrell Counts — to recruit and exploit three minors as sex workers, a news release by the U.S. Attorneys Office for South Carolina said.
Gary and Perry are now facing life in prison, a fine up to $250,000, lifetime supervision if released and mandatory sex-offender registry requirements, according to the release. Under a plea agreement, Gary and Perry will pay restitution to the victims.
Lyndon, who accepted the guilty pleas, is set to sentence Gary and Perry following a sentencing report, the release said.
A indictment remains pending against Nicholson and Counts, according to the release.
According to evidence presented in the case, Gary and Perry worked with Nicholson and Counts for at least eight months in coordinating transactions when the three minor victims were used as sex workers, the release said. The group used the internet to facilitate the conspiracy, including advertising, bookings, communicating and collecting money from customers.
Authorities say one minor was recruited by Nicholson and Perry at a hotel after the victim had run away from home.
“They drove her across state lines, told her that she was going to work in commercial sex, bought her lingerie, took photos of her, advertised her for commercial sex on the internet, and arranged for customers to exploit her at hotels in the Columbia area and elsewhere in the state,” the release said.
In the conspiracy, Nicholson was responsible for setting prices, collecting money and deciding which minor victims would receive some of the cash collected from their sex work, according to the release.
Meanwhile, Gary would pose as a minor victim in communicating with customers interested in the minor sex workers. She would also transport the minors to other cities to be exploited, collect money from the transactions and handled any problems involving customers, according to the release.
Perry, the release said, similarly participated in the conspiracy.
Two other minor victims were recruited near a high school and used as sex workers when they were not in school, the release said.
“The conspiracy exercised high levels of control over the operation, one minor victim was subjected to physical assault, and several of the members of the conspiracy carried firearms and distributed drugs around the minor victims,” the release said.
The case was investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
