Levar Simms took the teenager to a house in Greensboro where he locked her in a room until she agreed to prostitute.
February 1, 2007
GUILFORD COUNTY NC NEWS -- Levar Simms, 30, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of interstate transportation of a minor (Sex Trafficking) for the purpose of prostitution on Monday, January 28, 2008. Simms faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of up to life when sentenced on April 24, 2008, before the Honorable Judge Richard J. Leon.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Simms first encountered the victim, a 16-year-old teenage girl, in the late evening on July 6, 2006, when he pulled up alongside her in his vehicle, a Ford Thunderbird, outside of a shelter for juveniles in Greensboro, North Carolina. The teenager had traveled to North Carolina from her home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to visit with family friends. Shortly after she arrived, she became stranded and checked into the Act Together Youth Facility.
Levar Simms took the teenager to a house in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he locked her into a room until she agreed to prostitute for him. After a span of time, she was introduced to several other adult women who also prostituted themselves for Simms.
After several days, Simms told the teenager that he wanted her to come with him to Washington, D.C., because she would be able to make more money there. Simms drove the teenager, together with several other adult women, to Washington, D.C. were he harbored them in his apartment in the 4500 block of Jay Street, NE. From there, the defendant arranged for the prostitutes' photos to be placed on Craig's List in the "erotic services" section.
Evidence at trial also established that Simms arranged for the teenager to "walk the track" once on Rhode Island Avenue in an area known for prostitution. On August 14, 2006, members of the Metropolitan Police Department stopped the teenager because she appeared to be underage. Once they confirmed that she was, in fact, a minor, officers asked her to call someone to pick her up. She placed a phone call to a number in her phone stored under "Daddy." Moments later, Simms arrived in the same Ford Thunderbird he had used to transport the teenager to Washington, D.C.
In the backseat of Simms car, Police found the computer used to post the teenaged victim and other adult prostitutes' advertisements to Craig's List.
Furthermore, U.S. Attorney Taylor, Chief Lanier, and Assistant Director in Charge Persichini commended the outstanding investigative work of D.C. Metropolitan Police Detectives Jonathan Andrews, Timothy Palchak, Miguel Miranda, Mark Gilkey; Sergeant Morani Hines; and Officers Gary Walker, James O'Gorman, Marquette Mathis, Michael Daee, and John Light. In addition, they commend Special Agents William Kim, William McDermott, Andrew Smallman, and Ndubisi Nwachuku; and U.S. Attorney's Office Victim Witness Advocates Tracey Hawkins and Dawn Tolson-Hightower, Litigation Technology Specialist Oliver John-Baptiste, Intern Kathryn Rakoczy, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce Hegyi, who indicted the case, and Julieanne Himelstein and Jocelyn Ballantine, who tried the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and the Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood organized federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.
Finally, County NC News has provided a copy of the Project Safe Childhood video for download (51.2 mb) in order to alert and educate parents to the reality of child exploitation and the mission of Project Safe Childhood. The video also shows steps the U.S. Department of Justice is taking to stop perpetrators of these heinous crimes, and is especially useful to parents living in densely populated areas such as Greensboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on the war on child exploitation, Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
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