The arrest warrant affidavits tied to a human trafficking investigation in Hartford, which led to the arrest of seven suspects, detail how three 14-year-old Bristol girls escaped after they were repeatedly allegedly sexually assaulted over multiple days.
The warrant affidavits outline three days in May when authorities allege that the girls were lured away from their families and moved from place to place, including drug houses and a hotel, in an allegedly attempt to hide them from law enforcement.
The families of the girls were looking for them while they were missing and eventually found them, according to police. While the girls were able to escape with the help of relatives and neighbors, they were allegedly sexually assaulted multiple times while they were being held.
The investigation led to the arrests of 36-year-old Ahmad Compton of Hartford; 35-year-old James Williams of Hartford; 38-year-old Bernard Mickens of Hartford; 50-year-old Raheem Jones of no certain address; 20-year-old Donovan Dunn of Hartford; 20-year-old Tahjay Wilson of Hartford; and 19-year-old Tyrod Jackson of Hartford.
At a news briefing this month, officials with the Hartford Police Department, the lead agency in the investigation, and the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office said the three teens were groomed for more than a month over social media before the incidents. The warrant affidavits tied to the investigation said the girls were picked up from Bristol on May 1 after the three of them were at one of their homes for a sleepover.
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During a forensic interview, one of the teens allegedly told authorities they contacted some “boys” they knew who could provide them with marijuana, the warrant affidavit said. When they were allegedly picked up by Jackson, Dunn and another man, the girl told police, the teens did not expect to leave Bristol but were eventually driven to Dunn’s home on Ridgefield Street in Hartford, according to the warrant affidavit.
Once there, the girls claimed they hung out in the basement with the three men as well as two others who had not yet been identified by law enforcement as of September, when the warrants were signed by a judge. One of the victims told police the men all allegedly had guns, according to the warrant affidavit.
The teen alleged that Dunn repeatedly touched her inappropriately and that she would slap his hand away each time, the warrant affidavit said. After this happened multiple times, the girl alleged that Dunn slapped her across the face so she slapped him back and punched him, the warrant affidavit said. She alleged that Dunn then grabbed her by the neck and pushed her down to the floor before one of the men separated them, police wrote.
The girl alleged all three teens were sexually assaulted by all of the men in the home with the exception of Dunn, the warrant affidavit said.
At one point everyone in the home, including her two friends, had left, leaving one of the girls alone with Dunn, according to the warrant affidavit. She alleged that he grabbed her by the neck and dragged her into the living room where he forced her down and sexually assaulted her, the warrant affidavit said. She said she was pinned against a couch and was not able to scream, the warrant affidavit said.
When the others returned to the home around 5 a.m., the men allegedly told the girls they could not bring them back to Bristol so they took them to a “trap house” and left them in the basement, telling them to wait for them to come back, according to the warrant affidavit. One of the girls told police the men never returned, so the teens went outside where they were approached by Williams, the warrant affidavit said.
One of the teens asked Williams if he had a place where they could hang out, and he left briefly before returning in a vehicle with Mickens, the warrant affidavit said.
The two men took the teens to the Super 8 hotel where they allegedly rented a room and hung out, drinking tequila and smoking marijuana, according to the warrant affidavit. One of the victims alleged Mickens asked her to go into the bathroom with him where he forced her to perform a sex act, the warrant affidavit said.
After saying no, the warrant affidavit said, the girl alleged that Mickens pulled out some cash and said “You guys need money, right?” She told investigators she turned down the cash, but said Mickens was bigger and stronger than her and that he allegedly forced her to continue, the warrant affidavit said.
The girl alleged that Mickens allowed her to leave the bathroom upon hearing her friends calling for her, but he told her she needed to come back afterward, according to the warrant affidavit. The girl said her friends told her Williams allegedly wanted them to perform a sex act as well before she returned to the bathroom when Mickens called for her, the warrant affidavit said.
Mickens then allegedly gave the girl $50 and sexually assaulted her, according to the warrant affidavit. She said he told her he was going to take care of her by getting her a phone and clothes.
Afterward, Mickens and Williams left the girls in the room, according to the warrant affidavit. Williams later returned with Compton and asked the girls how old they were, the warrant affidavit said. After saying they were 14, Compton allegedly said he was going to treat them like they were 16 because they looked it, the warrant affidavit said.
One of the girls who spoke to investigators said both men left and allegedly returned with alcohol, at which point they had the teens allegedly take their clothes off and line up, the warrant affidavit said. The girl said Compton and Williams allegedly sexually assaulted them throughout the night and into the next morning despite them repeatedly saying no, according to the warrant affidavit.
After Williams left the room, Compton allegedly began telling the girls that he intended to “get them business” and that they had to be prepared to be with any guy who came in, the warrant affidavit said. He also allegedly told them he would use hand gestures to signal to the girls how many minutes they had to spend with each man, police wrote.
Compton allegedly told the teens they would be taken to various drug houses or his home and that they would be introduced to his daughter, who was reportedly about the same age, the warrant affidavit said. He allegedly said they would need to tell anyone who asked that they were 20 years old and that they were related to him, according to the warrant affidavit. One of the girls who spoke to police alleged that he continually used his hand to make a circular motion and explained to them that they were now in his “circle,” the warrant affidavit said.
The next day, Compton allegedly sexually assaulted all three teens again before Williams arrived back at the room and said he wanted to do the same but nothing happened, the warrant affidavit said. Mickens allegedly arrived afterward but Compton convinced him to leave by saying there were police in the area, police wrote.
One of the girls told authorities Compton and Williams then allegedly discussed where they were going to take them before they walked back to the same “trap house” where they had been taken a day earlier, the warrant affidavit said. She said the teens were left in the home with Jones, who Compton allegedly instructed to watch over them and not let them leave, according to the warrant affidavit.
The girl said they remained in a bedroom until two of her aunts suddenly arrived at the home and left with all three teens, the warrant affidavit said.
The mother of one of the teens told police family members of the girls were actively searching for them in the overnight hours and learned that they may have been seen at the residence on Nelton Way in Hartford where they were ultimately found, according to the warrant affidavit. She said they made friends with multiple people in the neighborhood who helped them recover the teens.
After knocking on the door to the residence on May 3, the mother said a man opened the door and allegedly said no one else was inside, the warrant affidavit said. Because the neighbors were adamant that they had seen the girls enter the residence, the mother told police, one of the neighbors pushed the man aside while her sister went in and got the teens out.
The girls were then taken to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center where sexual assault kits were performed. At the hospital, one of their mothers said a man was asking her lots of questions and acting suspiciously, the warrant affidavit said. Her daughter then identified him as one of the men who was told to keep an eye on the girls.
The mother notified security at the hospital before police responded and arrested the man, identifying him as Jones, the warrant affidavit said. Hartford police had an unrelated warrant out for his arrest.
At the news briefing earlier this month, authorities said they relied heavily on information from the victims and their families. The victims were also able to identify several of the suspects through photo lineups, the warrant affidavit said.
The suspects were arrested in September after police obtained warrants charging all seven of them. Officials earlier this month said they anticipate additional arrests.
The cases against those who have already been charged remain pending in Hartford Superior Court.
Compton faces three counts each of trafficking in persons, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact with a minor. Williams is charged with one count of criminal attempted first-degree sex assault and three counts each of trafficking in persons, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact with a minor.
Mickens is charged with three counts each of first-degree kidnapping and risk of injury to a minor and a single count each of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, first-degree sexual assault, unlawful restraint and illegal sexual contact with a minor. Jones faces one count of first-degree hindering prosecution and three counts each of trafficking in persons, first-degree kidnapping and risk of injury to a minor.
Dunn faces three counts of risk of injury minor, two counts each of third-degree sexual assault, promoting a minor in an obscene performance, employing a minor in obscene performance and first-degree possession of child sexual abuse materials and a single count each of trafficking in persons, first-degree sexual assault, enticing a minor, second-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful restraint and illegal sexual contact with a minor.
Wilson is charged with three counts each of first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact with a minor. Jackson faces with three counts each of first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact with a minor.