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A man is facing serious charges after undercover detectives in Miami Beach found a woman who authorities said was the victim of violent human trafficking.
Robert Brown, 37, was arrested Tuesday on charges including human trafficking, deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery and cocaine possession, an arrest report said.
According to the report, Miami Beach Police human trafficking detectives were working an undercover detail and contacted an online ad for prostitution on Listcrawler.
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An undercover officer was directed to a location for the "date" and received a call from a woman, who met with the undercover officer and brought him to an apartment where she offered to have sex with him in exchange for $200, the report sad.
Detectives swarmed the apartment and spoke with the woman, who said she engages in prostitution to pay her bills.
The woman said she met Brown in March when he had responded to one of her online ads and paid her $150 in exchange for sex but "he never left," the report said.
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She said Brown stayed in her house but doesn't have a job and doesn't contribute anything to the household, but takes pictures of her to post online and texts with clients who respond to ads, the report said.
She said Brown would come to the apartment if clients refused to pay her, including one man who'd cancelled a CashApp transaction.
Brown called the man and threatened to call his family if he didn't resubmit the payment, so the man resent it, the woman told detectives.
The woman said Brown was physically violent with her and "would snap anytime he felt disrespected," the report said.
She had photos and videos of injuries she'd suffered from Brown, including a large bruise on her leg she got when he chased her around the house with a large knife then pushed her into a bathtub where he attacked her and punched her, the report said.
She also had a bruise on her inner lip from a July incident where he grabbed her by the face, and in August he'd pushed her, causing her to fall and seriously bruise her leg, the report said.
During another incident she recorded, he hit her in the eye, called her explicit names and told her "I will end you," the report said.
The woman said she'd given Brown more than $14,000 after he'd told her she needed to give him 20% of her earnings, which he later changed to a flat rate if she made $500 or more, the report said.
When she said she didn't want to work Brown would get disappointed and tell her "it's just one date, just one hour," and she would feel obligated to work, the report said.
Brown was taken into custody when he returned to their building. He had a bag on him that contained three glass pipes containing a white residue believed to be crack cocaine, the report said.
The report said Brown is British but has a permanent address in Miami Beach.
Brown was booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
