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New Oakland County human trafficking unit makes arrests in Madison Heights

Girls were being trafficked online

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Police arrested two people in a human trafficking bust in Oakland County.

Two people are in custody and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald hopes a third suspect will be in custody soon.

The bust was the result of several months of work by Madison Heights Police Department, Homeland Security and other organizations.

The bust was made by the first ever Oakland County Prosecutor Office Unit which is focused on human and sex trafficking.

There were thousands of ads for prostitution as girls were being trafficked online in Metro Detroit. McDonald said a massive investigation found adults trafficking minors for sex in Madison Heights motels.

READ: Detroit nonprofit organization rescues sex trafficking victims

Lavonte Sampson of Harper Woods and Chrystal Forgays of Warren have been arrested and charged. Police are still searching for a third suspect.

They are accused of luring young girls into prostitution, getting them addicted to drugs and using Madison Heights hotels to sell their victims.

Sampson was issued a $300,000 cash bond and ordered to have no contact with the victims, witnesses or codefendants. Sampson is also required to wear an electronic tether. Forgays was issued a $250,000 cash bond with the same conditions.

READ: Human trafficking survivor takes fight for change to Lansing


About the Authors
Shawn Ley headshot

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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