Rhode Island man indicted for sex trafficking, child pornography and witness tampering

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment Wednesday charging a Rhode Island man with sex trafficking a minor girl, witness tampering and producing child pornography.

This indictment resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Providence, Rhode Island Police Department.

Dujuan Harris, 35, of Providence, was indicted on one count each of sex trafficking a child, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and witness tampering.

Court records allege that after befriending a 17-year-old girl online, Harris purchased bus tickets for her to travel from her home in Texas to Boston. Harris met the young woman when she arrived in Boston on June 12, 2015, and then purchased a ticket for her to travel with him to Providence. Within a few days of her arrival in Providence, it is alleged that the defendant took photographs of the victim in various stages of undress and posted them in solicitation ads on Backpage.com.

According to law enforcement, the ad allegedly resulted in several paid sexual encounters with the 17-year-old, with the funds going to Harris.

Also according to court documents, when Harris told the young woman that he wanted to earn more money by having her engage in an increased number of sexual encounters for payment, the young woman told Harris she no longer wanted to participate. It is alleged that Harris removed the battery from the victim’s cell phone so that she could not be located and on several occasions refused to allow her to leave the apartment in which they were staying.

On June 30, 2015, HSI special agents, Providence police detectives and members of the Human Trafficking Task Force located the victim in an apartment in Providence. Following the rescue of the victim, law enforcement discovered numerous nude photographs of the 17-year-old victim on Harris’ cell phone allegedly taken from Skype conversations between Harris and the victim while she was in Texas.

It is further alleged that between Aug. 19 and Sept. 15, while Harris was in custody, that he made numerous telephone calls to the victim in an intimidating and/or threatening manner, in an attempt to prevent the victim from providing testimony in this matter to a grand jury.

An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. An arraignment date has not yet been scheduled by court.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.