Federal Jury Convicts Man for Sex Trafficking of a Minor
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 16, 2010 |
Yesterday, a federal trial jury in Minneapolis convicted a 38-year-old man of running a multi-girl prostitution operation in the Twin Cities. Following a two-day trial, Arthur James Chappell, address unknown, was convicted on one count of sex trafficking a minor. Chappell was indicted on May 19, 2009.
According to evidence presented at trial, from May of 2007 through July 3, 2007, Chappell knowingly recruited a girl under the age of 18 to engage in commercial sex acts. In June of 2007, the Bloomington Police Department conducted surveillance at a hotel, where they found four women in a room rented by Chappell. Police later learned that Chappell was prostituting both adult and juvenile females, promoting his business through computer ads on the websites Craigslist and Backpage.com. The girls were prostituted in both homes and hotels.
For his crime, Chappell faces a potential maximum penalty of life in prison. United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the Bloomington Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika R. Mozangue.
The investigation was aided by the Gerald D. Vick Human Trafficking Task Force, which was named for the slain St. Paul police officer who dedicated his professional life to eradicating trafficking and prostitution. The Task Force was established with federal funds and is comprised of investigators from the FBI, ICE, the police departments of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the sheriff’s office in both Hennepin and Ramsey counties, as well as other agencies.
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked annually across international borders for involuntary servitude or use in the sex trades. An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked within the U.S. each year. According to the Justice Department, the Twin Cities metropolitan area is one of the 15 largest human trafficking centers in the nation.