WCCO EYE4 LOGO WCCO Radio

Latest News

Prosecutors Conclude Sex Trafficking Case

View Comments
Today's Most Popular Video
Georgia Is Our Pet Guest Of The Week! Gov. Dayton Addresses Peter Hobart Students Morgan Freeman Snoozes During Press Interviews Viewers` Choice: Best Playground Prince Drops Ticket Prices To Myth Shows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have finished their case against a group of nine defendants charged in a conspiracy to commit sexual trafficking of children operated by Somali gangs.

The federal jury could hear closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon after more than two weeks of testimony in the case that spans from Minnesota to Tennessee. Seven of the nine defendants on trial and several key witnesses have been from the Somali refugee communities in Minneapolis and Nashville.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is trying to prove a wide-ranging conspiracy by the gangs to use girls under the age of 18 as prostitutes, but defense attorneys have argued the exact age of the prosecution’s main witness, a Somali female identified only as Jane Doe No. 2, is not known because her birth certificate is faked.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Mobile Weather Watcher

Follow CBS Minnesota

Like us on foursquare
wccoradio podcastbanner3 WCCO Radio

Meet WCCO-TV’s Anchors

Amelia Santaniello Frank Vascellaro Chris Shaffer Mark Rosen

TV Schedule

Full Program Grid
7:00 PM The Mentalist
8:00 PM 48 Hours
9:00 PM 48 Hours
10:00 PM WCCO 4 News at Ten
10:35 PM Storm Stories
11:05 PM Life to the Max
11:35 PM CSI: Miami