An Illinois man and woman are facing multiple charges after being accused of forcing a 13-year-old girl into prostitution, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to the report, Cook County Judge Darron Bowden called the charges against 36-year-old Ambrosia Clemons "basically pimping," after setting his bond at $750,000 Wednesday.
Clemons and his co-defendant, 23-year-old Kearita Ladd, are accused of forcing the teen to have sex with them before prostituting her to more than 10 unknown men over several days in December. They also allegedly forced the minor to dance at three area strip clubs.
Both Clemons and Ladd are charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and aggravated sexual servitude of a minor. Ladd's bail was set at $500,000.
According to prosecutors, the 13-year-old sought help over a social media website while one of the defendants was away buying her clothes to use in strip dances.
As the Tribune reports, on Dec. 6, the girl escaped from Chicago Lakeshore Hospital, a private behavioral-health and addiction-treatment center, with another individual, prosecutors say.
The pair eventually went to a beauty-supply store in Lansing, Ill., and then went with the two defendants to a Lansing hotel. While the teen did not know either defendant, the other individual did know Clemons, prosecutors say.
At the hotel, Ladd allegedly forced the victim to have sex with her, and Clemons forced the teen to have sex with him as well. The other individual had left before the incidents occurred.
Then, from Dec. 9 to Dec. 13, Clemons allegedly forced the teen to have sex with several men for money. Between Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, the defendants took the girl to perform at multiple local strip clubs, where the victim was allegedly instructed to tell staff that she was born in 1998.
On Dec. 12 the victim attempted to escape from the hotel where she was being held but was hit, choked and prevented from leaving by the defendants, authorities say. Prosecutors say that video recording captured the escape attempt and the assault that followed.
The victim was able to later use a phone to contact a former teacher through Facebook. On Dec. 13 the girl reached out to her mother and the former teacher again through a social media site while Clemons was out shopping for clothes for her to use in the strip club, officials say.
Both defendants were arrested as part of a joint investigation by Lansing police, the Cook County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune.