SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Two South Salt Lake residents have been indicted for the sex trafficking of young girls.
The federal indictment unsealed Monday names DeWayne Eugene Hopkins, 27, and Julia Young, 19, with recruiting young girls to work as escorts and then sold pictures of the girl’s sex act on websites.
"Ads were being placed on visual and routine lists such as Craigslist for massages and types of services,” said U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman. “In reality what was happening the massage would often include with it some form of sexual gratification.”
Authorities said Hopkins was the mastermind for the alleged sex trafficking scheme.
They claim Young was an accessory.
According to court documents, the girls were taken to the Best Western Motel in Midvale. There they met men and allegedly had sex and even took pictures.
Hopkins and Young were charged with prostitution and sex exploitation last year in state court. During the preliminary hearing one of the victims testified that it was an opportunity to make money.
“We were talking and she told me that she (friend) gets pretty good money for it and that it would be a good chance for me to get money,” the 17-year old testified.
The 17-year old testified that she was from Nevada but once lived in Utah. She said mutual friends arranged for the meeting with Young.
“She (Young) said she would give us a call the next day and see if we would be able to start up,” the girl testified.
Selling child porn on the internet usually involves foreign children, but federal prosecutors said it happens here too.
"This case should serve as an eye opener that it does occur within the United States … even in Utah,” said Tolman.
Young and Hopkins face similar charges in state and federal court but a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the state case will be dismissed and the pair will be prosecuted in federal court.
