Two charged with child sex trafficking in Myrtle Beach and North Carolina
A pair of North Carolina adults are facing life in prison for their alleged roles in child sex trafficking that occurred in the Myrtle Beach area.
Johnny Thomas, 34, of Durham, and Becca Mills, 25, of Whispering Pines, posted commercial sex ads for minors and took minors to locations in Fayetteville, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach to engage in commercial sex acts with others, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Both were previously arrested in 2019, shortly after one of the victims self-reported to Myrtle Beach Police as a runaway and told officers they believed they were trafficked, the complaint states. The minor initially met Thomas, who went by “Rico,” on a video messaging app called Monkey.
Mills participated in many of those sexual encounters and Thomas participated with one of the minors on at least two occasions, a press release from the South Carolina U.S. District Attorney’s Office states.
The news release also notes that Mills and Thomas both threatened one of the minors if they refused to perform commercial sex acts.
The crime of sex trafficking, by federal definition, occurs when a person “recruits, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, patronizes, or solicits another person to engage in commercial sex” by means of force, fraud or coercion. When a child is involved, the means of force, fraud of coercion do not need to be proven since the use of minors in commercial sex is prohibited by law.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Rockingham Police Department, and the Myrtle Beach Police Department.
Michael Mule, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said they couldn’t comment on the status of the minor victims in this case, but that their victim witness services make themselves available to all victims of criminal activity to provide needed services.
This is the second time in recent months that federal child sex trafficking charges have been announced in relation to crimes that occurred in the Myrtle Beach area.
Federal charges were announced July 15 against four men, including three from the Myrtle Beach area, for their alleged involvement in a child sex trafficking case. Theodore “Tripp” Woolings Bye III, 36, was specifically charged with sexual trafficking of a minor.
There were 22 defendants in South Carolina facing a total of 75 pending human trafficking charges as of the end of 2020, according to Robert Kittle, a spokesman for the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
Signs of human trafficking
Red flags that someone is a victim of human trafficking include:
Poor living and working conditions: Unable to come and go as they wish; unpaid or paid very little; owes a large debt they’re unable to pay off.
Poor mental health: Fearful, anxious, depressed; avoids eye contact; anxious around law enforcement.
Poor physical health: Appears malnourished; signs of physical or sexual abuse.
Lack of control: Few personal possessions; no bank account; unable to speak for themselves.
If you see any of these red flags, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
Source: Polaris
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 10:27 AM.
