He invited a teen to travel the South with him. He turned her into a prostitute, cops say
A Tennessee man is accused of leading a traveling prostitution ring that began in Memphis and ended in West Palm Beach.
Derrion Kirby, 30, was arrested Friday on human trafficking and deriving proceeds of prostitution charges after deputies say he shuttled two women across the South to perform sexual acts in exchange for money. Jail records show he’s being held in Palm Beach County on $220,000 bond.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office became aware of Kirby’s doings Friday evening when one of the women, an 18-year-old, called 911. Deputies responded to a LaQuinta Hotel in West Palm Beach where the teenager explained how she wound up journeying from Memphis to Little Rock, Arkansas, to New Orleans to Tampa to Miami, working as a prostitute along the way, according to an arrest report.
Kirby first met the 18-year-old online in early May shortly after she had been kicked out of the house. He invited her to travel with him and his 33-year-old girlfriend to which she agreed, not yet comprehending what she was signing up for.
A recent high school graduate, the 18-year-old had never been a prostitute before meeting Kirby, deputies say. Only after a photo shoot at a hotel in Memphis did she begin to realize her predicament.
“Kirby and Victim 2 explained that these photos would be used for prostitution ads,” she told deputies, according to the report.
The teenager also claimed that both Kirby and his girlfriend threatened to beat her, deputies say.
Deputies then talked with Kirby’s girlfriend, who not only corroborated the 18-year-old’s claims but also said that her boyfriend keeps all of the money and her ID. She gave investigators a phone number that they discovered was linked to approximately 163 prostitution ads in each of the aforementioned cities, according to the report.
Law enforcement located Kirby a short time later with a little more than $3,000 and his girlfriend’s ID in his possession. When asked about his belongings, he said that the money “came from [his girlfriend’s] IRS stimulus payment and her Social Security Disability Benefits.” He added that holding on to both items was his way of ensuring that they stay safe because she “’loses’ things,” the report says.
Kirby was booked into the Main Detention Center early Saturday morning.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 6:07 PM.
