Chicago, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Milwaukee man was arrested on a federal charge of sex trafficking a minor, and the alleged 15-year-old victim, from Madison, Wisconsin, was returned to her home, federal law enforcement authorities announced today. The defendant, Dajuan Key, also known as “Dejuan Key,” 30, was scheduled to return to federal court in Chicago at 2:30 p.m. today for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Martin.
Key was taken into federal custody by FBI agents on Saturday and charged with sex trafficking a minor for allegedly transporting the 15-year-old girl from Madison to Chicago to engage in prostitution. He appeared before Magistrate Martin on Saturday and was ordered to remain in custody pending today’s hearing.
Transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
According to a criminal complaint affidavit, the victim was found last Tuesday by Romeoville Police officers at a fast food restaurant in the far southwest suburb after the girl’s mother reported that her daughter had called her crying and told her that she was at a motel in Romeoville and did not have a way home. Romeoville Police responded to the motel where they located Key with a woman identified as an adult victim and who then accompanied police to the nearby restaurant and identified the minor victim.
The minor victim told FBI agents that she met a man, whom she identified as Key, at an apartment complex in Madison on September 8. Key told the girl that he was going to take her to Milwaukee and would return her to Madison. Instead, Key allegedly drove the girl to Chicago, and they eventually arrived at a motel in Romeoville, where Key introduced the girl to a woman he told her was working for him as a prostitute. Key allegedly told the girl that if she worked for him, she would be able to keep all the money she made. The victim told Key that she wanted him to take her home, but Key got the victim a motel room and took photographs of her, which he then apparently posted in online advertisements because her cell phone began to receive calls from unidentified numbers.
The victim repeatedly told Key that she wanted to go home, but she had no way to do so on her own, was tired, and agreed to spend the night believing Key would take her home in the morning. On September 9 and 10, the victim engaged in commercial sex acts, believing that she would get to keep the money and use it for a bus ticket home. However, in each instance, Key demanded the money, and the victim gave it to him because she was afraid of what he might do if she did not comply.
The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They commended the assistance and cooperation of the Romeoville Police Department.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. The task force is part of a nationwide effort known as the Innocence Lost National Initiative targeting those involved in the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the United States. In Chicago, the CETF is composed of FBI special agents and officers and investigators from the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The case also falls under the umbrella of the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine A. Sawyer.
A complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
