21°
A jury found 36-year-old Dimas Omar Hernandez, aka “Adonys,” of Malvern, and 27-year-old Franklin Rivera-Mendieta, aka “Mono,” of Downingtown, guilty on charges of trafficking minors, involuntary servitude, rape, kidnapping, and other related offenses, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.
On May 28, 2020, a missing 14-year-old Maryland girl's Facebook message to her mother led multi-state authorities to her location, sparking an investigation into her captors, prosecutors said.
The message, which stated in part that she "didn't want to be here anymore," was crucial in the subsequent arrests of Hernandez, Rivera-Mendieta, and six other individuals.
“Dimas Hernandez and Franklin Rivera Mendieta trapped these vulnerable victims in a cycle of sexual abuse for the purpose of lining their pockets with money," DA Deb Ryan said. "This kind of human degradation is deplorable."
A third co-defendant, 25-year-old Josue Sibrian Sanchez, aka “Sibrian,” of Malvern, already pleaded guilty. All three men will be sentenced at a later date.
Diana Ordonez, 27, Luis Cabrera Peralta, 31, Nestor Ruiz, 47, Juan Humberto Ortiz Ortiz, 37, and Carlos Villatoro Gallegos, 25, were also arrested in connection with the ring that ran out of East Whiteland Township.
In the message, the 14-year-old girl also asked her mom to pick her up at a Wawa store on Lancaster Avenue in East Whiteland Township, officials said. Her mom contacted officers with the Fairfax Virginia Sheriff’s Office, who then notified the East Whiteland Township Police Department.
On May 30, 2020, the child was able to flee and was rescued by authorities.
She apparently told police that she had been held against her will and forced to have sex for money with multiple people each day at three places in East Whiteland Township. She was told her mother would be killed if she did not comply, authorities said.
The girl explained how she was recruited by a woman named "Tiny" at a party in Washington D.C., picked up by one of the co-defendants in Maryland where she was living, and brought to an apartment in Malvern, PA, according to prosecutors.
She claimed that "Tiny" and one of the co-defendants took her to Walmart to buy “sexy clothes” and then took pictures of her that were used to advertise her for sex.
A second victim, an 18-year-old girl from Virginia, also managed to escape after being held for three weeks in February and March 2020, authorities said.
The teen apparently told investigators that she was lured to East Whiteland Township after being promised a job in a bar.
She went on to say that while she was being held against her will, she was forced to take drugs, was sexually assaulted by one of the co-defendants, and was physically threatened.
The girls told detectives that one of the co-defendants served as a "doorman" and took money from people who paid to have sex.
"Both victims displayed tremendous courage in escaping from their captors and telling authorities what they had endured," DA Deb Ryan said.
Authorities urge anyone who suspects a child is being abused to contact Childline at 1-800-932-0313.
Click here to follow Daily Voice West Chester and receive free news updates.
