49°
Marquise Ogawa, 28, Chyaire Lee, 26, and Jazmin Scott, 21, all of Lawnside, were being held in the Camden County Correctional Facility in Camden, charged with various child prostitution, trafficking and endangerment counts.
The victim was reported missing out of Voorhees in late October of last year, Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck and New Jersey State Police Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said in a joint release Tuesday.
Detectives from Callahan's Missing Persons & Human Trafficking Unit teamed up with Voorhees police to look for the child and found several online ads offering her for prostitution in Cherry Hill.
They linked Scott to the ads, then rescued the girl -- eventually reuniting her with her family -- and took Scott into custody in Camden on Nov. 24, Bruck and Callahan said.
That was just the beginning.
Soon after, the investigators linked Scott, Ogawa and Lee to a human trafficking network, they said.
Ogawa secured hotel rooms, coordinated the operation and collected payments, Bruck and Callahan said in a release.
Lee "arranged for customers to have sex with the juvenile victim, transported the victim, paid for hotel rooms and collected payments for services," according to the release.
Ogawa and Lee were arrested on Dec. 3 at a residence in Lawnside.
Detectives armed with a warrant also seized several electronic devices and "additional items used for human trafficking operations" from a Hyundai Elantra, Bruck and Callahan said.
“I applaud the State Police and local law enforcement for working together to locate the missing juvenile and reunite her with her family,” Bruck said.
“With child trafficking becoming more prevalent across the United States, our law enforcement agencies must stay one step ahead in an effort to keep juveniles safe from being targeted by these offenders,” Callahan added.
NJ Division of Criminal Justice Director Lyndsay V. Ruotolo urged people to "be vigilant and alert law enforcement if they see a child or teenager in suspicious circumstances.”
Members of Ruotolo's Specialized Crimes Bureau are prosecuting the trio.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Lower Merion-Narberth and receive free news updates.
