An Ohio man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for forcing a homeless woman into prostitution “multiple times,” including across the state, after striking up a romantic relationship with the woman, prosecutors said.
“He exploited (the woman) when she was vulnerable and wooed her with romance and gifts, the hallmarks of a genuine relationship,” prosecutors said of 41-year-old Leon Sims, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. “He then sold it for money several times over a period of several months, keeping the proceeds for himself.”
Sims was sentenced to 37 months in prison last week for engaging in interstate prostitution, a violation of the Mann Act, the Justice Department said in a press release Tuesday.
Police first encountered Sims in December 2020, when the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky responded to an online advertisement for prostitution.
An undercover deputy arranged to meet a woman through an ad at a local Holiday Inn, where the woman eventually informed law enforcement she had been driven to the lodging facility by Sims, according to prosecutors.
Deputies found Sims sitting in a car outside the hotel, and the woman told police that Sims had been arranging meetings for the woman for months to engage in prostitution.
Sims became romantically involved with the woman beginning in early 2020, according to prosecutors, and gave the woman gifts when she was struggling with the homeless.
He then allegedly demanded she repay the gift, and ordered her to withdraw $1,000 a day or face punishment.
Ohio man Leon Sims was sentenced to more than three years in prison for forcing a homeless woman into prostitution “repeatedly.” Boone County Sheriff’s Office
“Specifically, (Sims) threatened to prevent her from sleeping or eating if she did not comply,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Prosecutors said that from October 2020 to January 2021, Sims arranged to send the women across Ohio, Kentucky – and even to California – to meet johns for sex.
Sims reportedly pointed a gun at the woman when she refused a trip to California for prostitution.
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Sims is also accused of repeatedly pressuring the woman to have sex with him and using physical violence against her.
“Further investigation revealed that, from at least October 2020 through January 2021, Sims arranged prostitution activities for victims using online advertisements, managed the activities, communicated with prostitution clients and kept the profits from prostitution. While managing the victim’s prostitution activities, Sims transported the victim from Kentucky to Ohio and California for the purpose of prostitution,” the DOJ said in its press release last week.
“At sentencing, it was determined that Sims used deception or coercion to get the victim to participate in prostitution including verbal threats, withholding basic needs, and false promises.”
Sims’ attorney argued that Sims did drive the woman across state lines to engage in prostitution but denied his client ever forced her to have sex for money.
The attorney added that the woman bailed Sims out of jail when he was first arrested in December 2020.
“However, despite knowing Mr. Sims for only a few months, he did not take the opportunity to alert law enforcement of any dangerous or undesirable situations he was in, nor did he take the opportunity to ‘run away’ from Mr. Sims. while he was arrested and imprisoned and she was not,” the lawyer wrote, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The attorney added that the woman spoke to authorities about Sims receiving good treatment.
Sims moved to California after his arrest in 2020, before moving to Las Vegas in 2022.
Meanwhile, new charges such as human trafficking were filed in Boone County, Kentucky, in February 2021.
Authorities in Las Vegas in January 2022 discovered Sims had an active warrant in Kentucky and took him into custody.
He has been in custody since January 2022.
Boone County charges were dropped this year after Sims was charged federally, the Cincinatti Enquirer reported.
Sims must serve 85% of his sentence under federal law and will be monitored by authorities for three years after his release from prison.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
