The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said it made its first arrest for sex trafficking in the county Saturday morning.
Derrick Wilson, 29, of Stock Island is accused of coercing a 20-year-old North Carolina woman into having sex with men for money, the sheriff’s office said. Wilson took the money, providing her with crack cocaine and a place to stay in return, authorities added.
The woman told Major Crimes Detective Manuel Cuervo that she came to the Florida Keys with her boyfriend in early February, but after they argued she left the boat where they were staying.
She met a woman at a Stock Island convenience store who offered her a place to stay and crack cocaine. The victim said she had never used the drug before, but after several days of getting high and staying in various places, she met “D,” Derrick Wilson, the sheriff’s office said.
He offered her the same deal, but eventually told her that if she wanted more crack, she’d have to pay him for it, the sheriff’s office said. That is how he began setting her up on “dates” during which she would have sex with men who would pay Wilson. But the woman said she felt she had no choice because Wilson threatened to “beat her ass” if she didn’t keep making money for him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Wilson also arranged for her to work at a local strip club, where she made up to $600 a night, with Wilson pocketing the cash, the sheriff’s office said.
On March 13 the victim summoned the courage to make an escape, waiting until Wilson was asleep before she ran to a Monroe County fire station and asked for help. Victim advocate Elaine Woodson arrived and spoke with the victim, then called Cuervo, who began investigating, the sheriff’s office said.
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Wilson, who is a barber in Miami, was taken into custody Saturday on College Road on Stock Island, the sheriff’s office said. The victim said that she was forced to have sex at his home at 5700 Laurel Ave. Lot 2B, and evidence corroborating her story was found during a search there, the sheriff’s office said.
No information on Wilson’s court proceedings was immediately available.
