SIX CHARGED IN CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING SCHEME

BOSTON – Six men were arrested this week for conspiring to transport children and adults for prostitution, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan for the District of Massachusetts; Special Agent in Charge Warren T. Bamford of the FBI in New England announced today.

The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on May 16, 2007, and unsealed today following the arrests. Shaun Leoney, 26, of Dorchester, Mass.; Darryl Tavares, 24, of Revere, Mass.; Eddie Jones, 25, of Roxbury, Mass.; Rueben Porcher, 29, of Dorchester; Aaron Brooks, 23, of Quincy, Mass.; and Trueheart Peeples, 30, of Portland, Maine have been charged with sex trafficking of children, transportation of minors for the purpose of prostitution, and conspiracy.

According to the indictment, between approximately February of 2001 and December of 2005, Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, Brooks and Peeples conspired with each other to transport adults and minors between states for prostitution, assisting each other, and ultimately profiting from each other’s endeavors. The defendants operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. The Indictment also alleges that Leoney, Tavares, Jones, Porcher, and Peeples trafficked minors for the purpose of prostitution.

The defendants are held in custody pending detention hearings.

The case was investigated by the FBI; the Boston, Revere, and Quincy Police Departments; and the Massachusetts State Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Gershengorn in Sullivan’s Major Crimes Unit, and Myesha Braden, trial attorney for the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

This case is part of the Innocence Lost Initiative, a cooperative effort between the FBI, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to prevent and prosecute the commercial sexual exploitation of children. As of April 11, 2007, the initiative has resulted in 321 open investigations, 761 arrests, 171 informations or indictments, and 173 convictions in both the federal and state court systems.

The investigation is also part of Project Safe Childhood, a collaborative effort between federal, state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute child exploitation.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.