How Could You? Hall of Shame-Isabel Reyes

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 Providence, Rhode Island, a young woman, Isabel Reyes, 18, “is accused of trafficking an underage girl from their group home in Newport.”

“Isabel Reyes, 18, and the 15-year-old girl both went missing from the group home in mid-February. Within two days, Providence police joined the investigation with Newport and state child-welfare officials after getting a tip that the girl was at a hotel on Federal Hill, according to police records.

She was gone, but investigators found she’d called her mother from a phone number connected to “Escort Wiz” on Google and linked to ads for the Providence area on Backpage and Secret Arrangements.

As Providence police Inspector Mark Cameron told a judge in District Court Monday, Reyes had photos of the teenage girl on her cellphone, with comments that the girl was “willing to work” — meaning sex work.

Three days after the girl disappeared, Providence police detectives found the girl at the Extended Stay motel in Warwick, along with an 18-year-old woman wanted on a bench warrant. They were with a 50-year-old man, who was checked by the police and released, according to police reports.

After an investigation, Providence police charged Reyes with trafficking a minor, a felony that carries a sentence of up to 50 years in prison. She was arraigned Monday at District Court, where a judge set bail at $5,000 personal recognizance and ordered her not to have any contact with the girl. The judge also referred Reyes to substance-abuse counseling and a mental-health evaluation.

Children who live in group homes are at high risk for sex trafficking, according to a report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center found that 1 out of 7 children reported as runaways last year were likely victims of sex trafficking — and 88 percent of those victims were in the care of social services. Their vulnerability makes them a target for pimps, who exploit them and sometimes use them to recruit others.

There have been several cases locally. Last year, the Blackstone Valley Youth and Family Collaborative, which runs two group homes in Pawtucket, was drawn into a federal sex-trafficking case when one group home manager was charged with trafficking a 17-year-old girl. Two years ago, a Providence man was sentenced to a dozen years in federal prison for luring a 14-year-old girl from a group home and selling her for sex in New Jersey. The state police also charged eight Rhode Island men with soliciting the girl while she was still in state.

The Providence police are continuing to investigate the case of the 15-year-old girl from Newport.”

Teen accused of trafficking underage girl from Newport group home

[Providence Journal 4/9/18 by Amanda Milkovits]

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