Two charged in trafficking, prostituting Lakeland girl in Miami-Dade, authorities say
A North Carolina man and his teenage associate have been charged with trafficking an 18-year-old Lakeland girl in Miami-Dade County.
Saint Matthew Hopson, a 32-year-old North Carolinian, and Atilia Cleto Thomas, 19, are facing several charges for the grooming and trafficking of the unnamed 18-year-old, including felony human trafficking and forcing, compelling, and/or coercing to become a prostitute, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
According to the arrest report:
On Jan. 14, Hopson and the 18-year-old met on Facebook Dating, and Hopson began grooming her.
Sometime around the next day, Hopson drove to Lakeland to met her, and then he drove her to Miami; they stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel in Miami Springs. There he told the teen that he managed an escort service, and he introduced her to Thomas.
Hopson took the girl shopping at Victoria’s Secret and had her pose for pictures in clothes he bought. At Hopson’s direction, Thomas posted the pictures on an online escort service.
“I’m new to the game,” is what the collection of pictures was titled..
The 18-year-old did not know she was being offered up on the site. Hopson told her that Thomas would be the one having sex with clients, but then Thomas later asked the 18-year-old girl to have sex with a client. She tried to do what Thomas asked, but couldn’t.
Authorities also say Hopson also had sexual contact with the girl against her will. And after she told him she didn’t want to be a prostitute and wanted to go home, he said he had just gotten out of prison for human trafficking and kidnapping and would kill her if she called police, the report says.
In fact, Hopson does have a long criminal history, the Dade State Attorney’s Office said. He has several prostitution-related arrests in multiple states -- including Florida, where he served three years of prison time for living off prostitution earnings, according to the Florida Department of Corrections -- and has also faced kidnapping charges. He is on probation in North Carolina
After telling the 18-year-old girl that he would kill her if she talked, Hopson drove her back to Lakeland and dropped her off at a church, according to the arrest report. She eventually reunited with her family and called Lakeland police.
On Friday, as investigators were trying to get video footage for the case at the Miami Springs hotel, they learned that Hopson had just left. Miami Springs police later pulled Hopson over and arrested him. They said they found a notebook in his car that had a handwritten list of laws about being a “pimp”.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)