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Two men charged with commercial sex trafficking

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Two men have been charged with commercial sex trafficking.

According to court documents, Raheem Simmons and James Young have both been charged in connection to a commercial sex trafficking ring.   Some of those recruited by the men into the commercial sex ring were minors, under the age of 18.

Court documents state that Young, a local rapper, set up the sex trafficking enterprise in 2012 and ran it out of hotel rooms at America’s Best Value Inn located in the 7300 block of East 21st Street.

Then in January of 2015, Simmons, a music producer who worked with Young’s rap group, began living with Young and a number of the victims.

It was at that time that Young began teaching Simmons how the operation functioned and “how to talk to girls to entice them to engage in commercial sex acts.”

The website Backpage.com was used to place ads for the girls and to find customers.

Documents state that money obtained from the illegal operation was used primarily to pay for motel rooms, clothing and to produce music.

Young was charged in October of last year and Simmons was charged in August 2016.

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