St. Paul Man Convicted Of Sex Trafficking, Raping, Beating Women
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A St. Paul man pleaded guilty Tuesday to almost a dozen charges connected to recruiting, prostituting, trafficking, beating and raping women.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rashad Ramon Ivy was the mastermind behind a sex trafficking organization that victimized at least seven women in St. Paul in 2015.
Ivy -- alongside co-defendants Tarris Trapps and Danika Johnson -- lured young women by promising them the opportunity to make a lot of money, according to the criminal complaint.
The trio would typically rent an SUV, find attractive young women and ask them if they wanted to be in a music video. But once the women arrived at an apartment, some were coerced into prostitution – sometimes via violence.
Two young women told police in May that Ivy and Trapps lured them into an SUV, took them to an apartment and raped them. The women fled and contacted authorities.
Another victim told police she was prostituted by the defendants on website like localescortpages.com and backpage.com, and was only freed from her ordeal after Ivy beat her. He took her to a hospital for treatment, where she reported the abuse and had him arrested.
Trapps pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and solicitation last month. Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit felony sex trafficking last November.
Ivy will be sentenced on May 20. He could face up to 160 years in prison if convicted on all counts.