How Could You? Hall of Shame-Altariq Mitchell and Daquan “Tank” Patton

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Trenton, New Jersey, a “15-year-old foster child escaped from her group home seeking refuge at the Trenton Transit Center but soon found herself forced into prostitution as a victim of human trafficking.

That is the story, prosecutors say, of one victim being trapped into sex slavery at a Monmouth Place child trafficking house. The twisted operation was allegedly orchestrated and maintained by two 19-year-old Trenton men who have been ordered to pretrial detention on Wednesday.

Wearing orange inmate jumpsuits, Altariq Mitchell and Daquan “Tank” Patton both made separate court appearances on Wednesday for their detention hearings, which were held about one week after police arrested them on heavy charges.

Mitchell, the alleged ringleader of the operation, consented to his detention without objection but did not admit guilt to any crimes. “My client asserts his innocence,” state public defender Nicole Carlo said of Mitchell, adding her client consented to begin pretrial legal defense preparations without delay.

Mitchell is accused of holding a 12-year-old girl against her will, forcing her to have sex with him and arranging for the girl to have sex with other men who answered his Backpage.com ad to go on a date with the victim. He is also accused of sexually assaulting the runaway 15-year-old foster child.

Unlike Mitchell, Patton on Wednesday objected to the state’s pretrial detention motion. Public defender Olivia Moorhead represented him and said there was “no indication my client was aware of what was going on” in the abandoned house on Monmouth Place and suggested there was “not sufficient probable cause” to justify Patton’s arrest.

Patton is a subordinate co-defendant in the case and is accused of providing services to further human trafficking, sexual assault through coercion and endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors say he had sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old victim and that he provided people with directions on how to get to the Monmouth Place abandoned home to have sex with the victim in exchange for money.

The 15-year-old victim provided a statement to law-enforcement saying she was forced against her will to be a sex slave at the house. The statement, which was partially read in court on Wednesday, indicates the victim was forced to have sex with one man against her wishes and had sex with two other men for money that was never given to her and had “consensual” sex with Patton.

Although the sex was consensual between the two teenagers, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Heather Hadley said the state charged Patton with sexual assault on allegations he used “coercion” as a means to engage the 15-year-old victim in sexual activity.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw questioned the strength of the sexual assault charge against Patton but said the state has a strong case against Patton on the human trafficking and child endangerment charges.

Warshaw described the teenage victim as “a vulnerable person” and said Patton “needs to be detained to protect the safety of any other person or the community.”

Patton this year has performed recent volunteer service at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and also began working a job in waste management, according to Moorhead. She said Patton was not a flight risk and also argued that Patton would have been willing to be released on electronically monitored home detention. He has a right to file a timely appeal to Warshaw’s detention order.

Trenton Police Officer Israel Bonilla arrested Mitchell and Patton on May 23 for their alleged role in an ongoing conspiracy to sell underage girls for sex using the website Backpage.com. Police learned about the 15-year-old victim and then received information regarding the 12-year-old girl who was being held against her will as a sex slave inside the abandoned house, officials said.

Mitchell and Patton are both accused of sexually assaulting and endangering the welfare of the 15-year-old child through sexual conduct on March 25, according to court records. Mitchell faces additional charges of aggravated sexual assault of a victim under age 13 stemming from an incident that occurred on May 13.

Because Mitchell consented to pretrial detention, more details about his case were not discussed in court on Wednesday.

Both Mitchell and Patton could be detained at the Mercer County Correction Center for up to two years while their human trafficking case plays out in court.”

Runaway foster child gets forced into Trenton sex trade, 2 defendants detained

[The Trentonian 5/31/17 by Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman]

REFORM Puzzle Piece