A man and a woman from Chicago’s West Side are accused of the sex trafficking of two underage runaway girls in 2012, federal authorities said today.
Arnell Chase Misher, 30, and Braundii Young, also known as “Boochie”, 22, both of the 100 block of North Lockwood Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, were charged in a criminal complaint Friday with conspiring to force a 17-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, both runaways, to engage in commercial sex acts during the summer of 2012, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Misher appeared in court today and Young was in court Monday before judges at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. They both remain in custody and Young is scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday while Misher is slated for March 10, according to the office.
According to the complaint, the 17-year-old was approached by Misher in June 2012, at the corner of Lockwood Avenue and Fulton Street after she ran away from home. Misher told her she could make money by working for him performing sex acts with strangers.
Misher and Young bought clothing for the teen, who they nicknamed “Babyface,” styled her hair and told her the “rules of working for him.” Those rules included only engaging in sex acts with “whites and Mexicans,” and asking for $100 for sex with “dates”, though if the customer would not pay she could go lower, the complaint said.
The two posted online provocative pictures of the girl and her phone number to advertise her for sex services, according to the complaint.
The girl overheard Misher place a telephone call to Young and stated something to the effect of: “I have another girl,” the complaint said.
Misher and Young told the 17-year-old to lie about her age if she was ever arrested, according to the complaint. She worked for them for a period of two weeks, engaging in multiple commercial sex acts and turning over all the money she made to them.
The 13-year-old was also allegedly approached by Misher multiple times near Lockwood Avenue north of Washington Boulevard on the West Side after she ran away in July 2012, and he asked her to work for him performing sex acts and told her to lie about her age, the complaint said.
After the girl repeatedly turned him turn down, he allegedly “grabbed” her, threw her into his car, and gave her pills before dropping her off on near Kilpatrick Avenue and Washington Street on the West Side to start working for him, the complaint said. After “not attracting any customers,” Misher told the girl she was “scaring off” customers, the complaint said.
They told her not to accept any less than $90 for doing any sex act.
The complaint alleges her services also were advertised online and that the girl worked for them for four to six days. A little later in July, Misher confronted the 13-year-old, threatened to beat her and held her in their basement on Lockwood, telling her she “needed to contribute,” according to the complaint.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. If convicted, Misher and Young face a maximum penalty of life in prison.