COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – A man from Columbia pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking after he met up with a minor in Myrtle Beach and forced her in to prostitution.
A press release from the US Attorney’s Office says Alshura Tabil Annessa Frazier, 36, of Columbia, pleaded guilty in federal court to sex trafficking of children and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.The judge accepted the plea and will sentence Frazier after reviewing the report from the U.S. Probation Office.
According to the release, around Memorial Day in 2015, a minor female left her family in North Carolina and met Frazier in Myrtle Beach. Evidence in court established Frazier and others had sex with the girl in exchange for providing her with the recreational drug ‘Molly’ and shelter for the night.
After leaving Myrtle Beach, Frazier brought the victim to Columbia where he recruited her to perform sexual acts on clients for money. Frazier posted the minor or had others post the minor on Backpage.com, a site known to be used for sex trafficking. Frazier transported her to and from North Carolina and to and from South Carolina on multiple occasions for the purpose of prostitution. Frazier received 100 percent of the profits made from the prostitution and the victim was 16 years old when she began working as a prostitute for Frazier, the press release said.
The girl said she engaged in sexual intercourse with Frazier and used one of his cell phones to film she and another prostitute with Frazier engaging in sexual activity.
The drug trafficking charge came from a March 18, 2015 incident where a Richland County deputy tried to stop the suspect’s car for failing to give a turn signal and a chase ensued. During the chase, the car pulled into a parking lot and a female later identified as a prostitute working for Frazier ran out of the car carrying a box. Officers found the female hiding in the woods and she took investigators back to where she hid the box.
In the box, officers located a 10 mm Glock pistol, cocaine, crack cocaine, and a substance suspected to be Molly. The female told the officer that the box belonged to Frazier who gave it to her and told her to run.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Springdale Police Department, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
The maximum penalty for the sex trafficking charge is life imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for the possession of a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime is also life imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000.
