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Woman Kept As Sex Slave, Suffered ‘Unspeakable Violent Acts’ In Front Of Her Children, Police Say
Thomas Antoine Miller and Shakeeta Lasha Adams have been arrested after police say they held a woman against her will, forced her to have sex with men and beat her in front of her two kids.
A North Carolina sex trafficking victim was tortured in front of her kids and forced to have sex with random men by two people that may have victimized others, according to police.
The woman suffered "unspeakable violent acts" which all occurred "in front of her two underage children,” according to a statement from the Pineville Police Department.
Thomas Antoine Miller, 26, and Shakeeta Lasha Adams, 25, have been arrested in the case. Police believe they are both involved in holding the woman against her will at two hotels in Pineville, North Carolina, not far from Charlotte where "she was forced into sexual acts with random men” and where she allegedly was “physically and mentally punished [...] if she failed to meet a certain quota financially.'
Alleged punishments included verbal abuse, beatings with a belt, being held underwater while being strangled, and getting burned and branded with a hot wire coat hanger, police said.
“This violence was done in front of her two children and they were beaten as well with a belt at times," police wrote. However, they specified that the children were not victims of sex crimes.
Investigators said they performed an “extensive criminal investigation,” which included undercover surveillance, for three weeks before making arrests. During that time, they said the victim reached out to them for help for her and her children.
Miller has been charged with human trafficking of an adult victim, sexual servitude of an adult victim, assault by strangulation, assault on a child under 12, assault on a female and communicating threats. Adams has been charged with simple assault. Miller is still in jail as of Monday morning while Adams has been released on bail, according to online jail records.
It’s not clear if either have lawyers who can speak on their behalf at this time.
“Our victim in this case and her children have a long road of physical and mental recovery ahead of them," police wrote, calling her "very brave in coming forward."
Any additional victims are urged to call the Pineville Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at 704-889-2231
