Montgomery County Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking of Juvenile

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Cooper Kweme, 31, of Silver Spring, Md., pled guilty today to sex trafficking of a female juvenile, stemming from a prostitution business operated by Kweme earlier this year in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Neil MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; James McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and M. Douglas Scott, Arlington County Chief of Police made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.

“Mr. Kweme recruited juvenile girls online and other locations to work for his prostitution business,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “It is despicable that predators troll social networking sites to lure youth into the sex trade. We encourage young people and their parents to bring any suspicious activity to the attention of law enforcement so we can catch sex traffickers before they can enslave more victims. The Northern Virginia Anti-Trafficking Task Force is commended for their continued outstanding work in bringing sex traffickers to justice.”

“Online predators who attempt to use their influence to entice minors, take advantage of our most precious resource, our children,” said FBI ADIC McJunkin. “The FBI actively investigates crimes against children and sex trafficking of juveniles and works to proactively educate young people and parents on how to avoid falling victim to individuals who want to take advantage of them.”

According to court records, Kweme used the Internet to advertise women as prostitutes for his business. In February 2011, Kweme recruited a 16-year-old female to work as a prostitute after meeting her on an online social network targeted at teens, where he falsely claimed to be in his mid-20s. On Valentine’s Day, Kweme and the teenage victim began an intimate relationship, and Kweme took sexually suggestive photographs of her, which he later used to advertise her as a prostitute on the Internet. From March to May 2011, Kweme prostituted the victim in northern Virginia and Maryland. When clients paid the teenage girl for sexual acts she performed, she turned over the money to Kweme, who would give her a percentage of the fee charged to the client.

Kweme was arrested by the Arlington County Police Department on June 1, 2011, and later charged in federal court. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 21, 2011.

This case was investigated by the Arlington County Police Department and FBI’s Northern Virginia Resident Agency. Assistant United States Attorneys Morris Parker and Mary Daly are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.