Two Delaware men indicted on charges of child sex trafficking

In July 2017, a 15-year-old girl was kidnapped in Elkton, Maryland, but was fortunately found safe not too far away at a Red Roof Inn in Newark, Delaware.  Police from Elkton tracked down three of the girl’s alleged abductors.  The kidnappers, two men and one woman, were identified by The Newark Post as New Castle, Delaware, residents Steven Maurice Williams, 37, and Harry Eugene Rivers Jr., 28, and, Jessica Lynn Schaefer, 22, of Upland, Pennsylvania.

Following the arrests, Capt. Joseph Zurolo of the Elkton Police Department (EPD) reported that the suspects allegedly kidnapped their victim from another hotel in Elkton.  “The investigation revealed that a female subject had been removed from the complex against her will and forced to go into the company of two men and an additional female,” Zurolo said.

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Initial charges against Williams and Rivers included home invasion, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and third-degree burglary.  Charges of sex trafficking of a child and by force, fraud, and coercion were later added to their charges according to CBS News in Baltimore.

On February 22, CBS reported that Williams and Rivers were indicted on charges of sex trafficking of a child and by force, fraud, and coercion. The indictment stated that Williams, AKA “Brother Ray,” and Rivers, AKA “Hakeem,” forced women and girls into prostitution.  The 15-year-old girl they kidnapped had recently completed the eighth grade.

The FBI in Maryland announced through the indictment that Williams and Rivers were pimps, engaged in the business of recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, and maintaining by any means girls and women to engage in commercial sex acts.

In July 2017, a female child, “Girl 1,” was a victim of these crimes. “Girl 1” was a resident of Delaware, had recently completed the eighth grade, and was 15 years old.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

If found guilty of their charges, Williams and Rivers would face maximum sentences of life in behind bars.

~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter