SAN DIEGO (CN) - Nine people face federal charges of sex trafficking of children - all of them are in jail, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The nine are members of associated of a gang called NWS that prostituted minors and adults in North San Diego County, according to the indictment.
The six-count indictment was handed up Dec. 4 and unsealed on Tuesday. It accuses the defendants of "conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of children and by force, fraud, or coercion," prosecutors said in a statement announcing the indictment.
The defendants are Malcolm Jamal Allen, 18; Ama Bahati Bernard, 25; Devon Leontae Sutton, 21; Birdia Rollins, 20; Nicole Brook Tierney, 28; Vincent Windsor Heimstra, 57; Dominique Cortez Little, 20; Joseph Anthony Ponder, 20; and Alexandra Grove, 19. All live in Oceanside except Heimstra, who lives in Wildomar.
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