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Posted on 01/16/2003 4:02:23 PM PST by f.Christian
Accused leader of sex ring charged with 9 felonies; bond set at $2 million
Thursday, January 16, 2003
BY BEN SCHMITT and SUZETTE HACKNEY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
A 32-year-old Chicago man was charged Thursday with nine felonies, including transporting a female for prostitution, in connection with an alleged multistate sex ring that police officers broke up in Detroit this week.
Henry Davis was arraigned Thursday in Detroit's 36th District Court on four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, pandering, accepting earnings from prostitution and two charges of transporting a female for prostitution.
Magistrate Thomas Shannon of 36th District Court set Davis' bond at $1 million for each alleged victim in the case. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28.
The criminal sexual conduct charges are punishable by up to life in prison.
``We are at the tip of the iceberg at this point,'' Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan said this morning. Duggan added that ``significant additional defendants,'' in the prostitution ring face potential felony charges.
The case broke open Monday night after a 17-year-old Cleveland girl escaped from Davis' alleged group at a Highland Park shoe store with the help of a security guard. She later led police to the home Davis rented on the 4600 block of Nottingham on Detroit's east side, where Davis was taken into custody.
As Davis was arrested he told police they were focusing only one what he had done wrong to the girls, but not how he had helped them, said Detroit Police Cmdr. Gerard Simon.
``The man is living on another planet,'' Simon said.
Duggan said there is also a 20-year-old victim from Detroit who has come forward and will testify that Davis raped her and forced her into prostitution.
Duggan said Davis may have prostituted young girls in as many as five states, dating back to 1995. Detroit is not believed to be the center of the ring, he said, which was headquartered in Chicago.
Duggan said it could be weeks before they identify other suspects and bring additional charges, adding, ``I think we are going to succeed in shutting this ring down once and for all,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Dorian McConnell, the security guard who assisted the Cleveland girl, said he is overwhelmed with the attention he has received since helping police uncover the alleged ring. The girl approached McConnell at a Highland Park Foot Locker store and pleaded for help.
``I thought I was helping one young lady and it turned out to be something much bigger,'' McConnell said.
Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-222-6597 or schmitt@freepress.com.
Comments? Questions? You can reach us at The Freep
(Excerpt) Read more at freep.com ...
``The man is living on another planet,'' Simon said.
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" // "Orcs of the world: Take . . . note (( orig article // site )) - - - and beware." // "
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