Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a five-count indictment was unsealed charging Justin Dixon, a member of the Crips street gang, with sex trafficking, coercion and enticement of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor and felon in possession. On February 6, 2023, Dixon was arraigned on a complaint before United States Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl and a permanent order of detention was issued.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the indictment.
As set forth in court filings, in January 2023, Dixon allegedly used violence and threats of violence to compel the commission of commercial sex acts by a 14-year-old minor for his financial benefit. Dixon transported the minor victim – as well as other women – to a small geographical area off of Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, which is known as the “Penn Track” or the “Blade.” Dixon would then force the women to engage in prostitution and demanded that the proceeds of prostitution be turned over to him. Any resistance from the victims was met with violence.
Dixon used social media and other internet applications to establish relationships with potential victims, groom them and manipulate them into working for him as prostitutes. The 14-year-old minor was forced to live in a Staten Island house, along with Dixon and various other women. In that house, Dixon continued to enslave the women by forcing them to clean the house, cook for him and bathe him. The defendant would not allow the women to be clothed inside the house and would physically punish the women if they disobeyed any of these rules.
The investigation revealed that the defendant would call Jane Doe “tiny,” presumably due to her petite figure as a small fourteen-year-old. Dixon constantly overfed Jane Doe and consistently told her that she needed to eat more, in order to look older than her current age. The defendant also told Jane Doe he was arranging a trip to Florida for Jane Doe to have plastic surgery, including breast implants, in order to make her appear older than her current age.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of sex trafficking of a minor through force, fraud and coercion, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life in prison.
If you are a victim or have information, there are several ways to contact the FBI: send a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI. They are ready to work with you in your native language, regardless of your immigration status.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Elbert and Lorena Michelen.
The Defendant:
JUSTIN DIXONAge: 32Staten Island, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-90
Original source can be found here
