Two individuals from Chicago received substantial prison sentences for the sex trafficking of a minor and producing child sexual abuse material, as recent legal proceedings have uncovered their criminal activities. Geremy Glass, a 35-year-old male, was handed a 30-year sentence, while his co-defendant, Markita Tidwell, a 25-year-old woman, was previously sentenced to 19 years for her role in the depraved scheme. The convictions were a result of their despicable actions which began when they encountered their underage victim in Chicago.
Per court documents, Glass and Tidwell’s scheme involved them luring the minor into their web where Glass took charge of online advertisements and negotiating the price for sexual encounters, as well as directly communicating with potential buyers for sex. Tidwell helped to provide transportation, and would sign for hotel rooms where the encounters took place as the pair manipulated, and abused their young victim forcing her to engage with up to 15 individuals on a daily basis in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in mid-May 2022. According to the
Department of Justice
, when the victim sought to break from this relentless exploitation, Glass resorted to violence, going as far as to slam her face against a car window to ensure compliance.
It was through an astute hotel staff’s call to the authorities in Tuscaloosa that led to the discovery and subsequent rescue of the minor, cutting short the reign of terror inflicted by the two defendants; Glass was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to one count each of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and distribution of child pornographic material, and as of September 26, he is facing life under strict supervision after completing his prison term. Tidwell, having pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to sex traffic a minor, is expected to be under supervised release for two decades after serving her sentence.
The
Department of Justice’s announcement
credits the cumulative efforts of law enforcement agencies on various levels, including the FBI’s Birmingham Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, FBI Chicago, FBI Milwaukee, the University of Alabama Police Department, the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force, and local police departments in Tuscaloosa and Northport, as well as two prosecutors, Gwendelynn Bills of CEOS and Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White, who navigated the legal complexities to secure the convictions. The case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative of the Justice Department spearheaded to fiercely tackle acts of sexual exploitation and abuse against children across the nation.
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