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Two Milwaukee women wanted on suspicion of trafficking girls who spent time at shelter

Posted at 10:12 PM, Oct 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-25 22:12:43-04

(CNN) — Two women, including one who worked briefly at a center for girls impacted by sex trafficking and exploitation, have been accused of human trafficking, a criminal complaint filed this week in Wisconsin says.

Arrest warrants were issued Tuesday for Kendra Bey, 27, and Samaria Williams, 23, who face charges of trafficking of a child and receiving compensation for trafficking.

The criminal complaint says Bey met her two underage victims at the Milwaukee Academy. The facility treats girls who show a “pattern of behavioral and mental health symptoms,” according to the academy’s website.

Bey was employed there as a youth worker for three months, beginning in late July 2015, according to David Fritsch, president of Clinicare Corp., which operates Milwaukee Academy.

He said in a statement that Bey had passed a criminal background check before she started working there. She was fired for repeatedly missing work, he added.

It was after the girls had left the facility and run away from their foster homes that they reconnected with Bey and Williams, who took them to Chicago, and Iowa and other states, forcing them into prostitution, according to the criminal complaint filed by a special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

The girls, now 19 and 20 years old, told the investigator that they would each engage in sexual acts with men while they were teenagers and give the money to Bey or Williams. Many of the sexual encounters involved road trips, though some occurred in condominiums in Milwaukee, the document says.

The older girl was provided a place to stay, clothes, food and money to get their nails and hair done, according to the complaint.

The women also beat up the older girl, the victims told the state investigator.

The alleged crimes occurred from about August 2014 to May 2017, the complaint says.

CNN has reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Justice to get comment and more details about the case.

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Originally Published: 25 OCT 19 21:37 ET