A man was arrested and is facing federal human trafficking charges after an alleged string of crimes between September and November 2017 in southeast Michigan.
Jhamall Keshan McGaughy, 36, was charged with three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and two counts of transportation for the purposes of engaging in prostitution.
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VIEW: Indictment against McGaughy
Police said McGaughy would get women hooked on drugs and force them into prostitution. One woman said McGaughy made someone sit on her chest and force her to do heroin by sticking a needle into her neck. Another woman said McGaughy forced her into having sex with another man in the stairwell of a building in Detroit.
Police said they were called to the Regents Hotel in Pittsfield Township on Oct. 18, 2017 on a report of possible prostitution activity in one of the rooms. When officers arrived, they were told the occupants of the room were in a car in the parking lot.
Officers said they found McGaughy in the vehicle with a female driver. Police determined the driver was advertising for prostitution online.
Madison Heights police responded to a similar report at the Days Inn Hotel on West 14 Mile Road on Oct. 28. Officers said three women were being held against their will and taken to hotels in the area for prostitution.
One of the victims said she had attempted to escape a Clawson Motel 8 earlier in the day, but McGaughy had threatened to kill her. She said she had attempted to escape on several occasions, and that McGaughy was violent. She told investigators he had beaten and raped her.
The victim also said that McGaughy would get women hooked on heroin and crack cocaine before holding the drugs from them and forcing withdrawal. She said he would then make them prostitute.
The victim told officers on Oct. 31 that McGaughy forced her into having sex with another man in the stairwell of a building in Detroit. McGaughy then raped her after accusing her of working with the FBI, according to investigators.
The victim said that the day before, McGaughy had picked her up from a domestic violence shelter in Macomb County. She told investigators she was sent to the shelter after making a complaint of rape to Detroit police at St. John Hospital.
Another female victim told police on Nov. 27 that McGaughy forced her to use heroin by having someone sit on her chest and stick a needle into her neck.
The victim said she had met McGaughy through friends, and was forced into prostitution. She said McGaughy would assault her and keep his victims addicted to narcotics to control them.