Two Milwaukee men charged with human trafficking

PLYMOUTH (WITI) -- Two Milwaukee men are facing human trafficking charges following an incident in Plymouth on Monday, January 20th.  24-year-old Arin Ames-Clark is facing one count of trafficking of a child and 25-year-old Sean Lewis is facing one count of benefit of trafficking of a child.

Both made court appearances on Thursday, January 23rd.

According to the criminal complaint, officers came upon a 16-year-old woman who appeared to be confused and wandering the streets of Plymouth around 2:45 a.m. on Monday, January 20th. When the officers spoke with the woman, she indicated she was being held against her will — and led police to a home.

Upon arrival, officers learned a wanted man from Milwaukee, later identified as Sean Lewis, was inside the home in question.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim told police she had been brought to Plymouth from Milwaukee by a man she knew as "E." She stated that she had been staying with "E," later identified as Ames-Clark,  in Milwaukee for the past three weeks, and that he had brought her to Plymouth the previous day.

According to the complaint, the victim told police she was staying in a Plymouth home with Ames-Clark, but that he kicked her out because she would not have sex with him. The victim further stated that Ames-Clark made her have sex with three males during her stay in Milwaukee -- and told her to have sex with a man staying at the Plymouth address -- whom she identified as "Shawn" (Lewis).

The complaint indicates that prior to the encounter with Lewis, Ames-Clark allegedly told the victim to, "Go do your job. I need the money."

The complaint says the victim told officials she saw "Shawn" pay Ames-Clark to have sex with her.

Officers arrived at the Plymouth home, and no one would answer the door -- although police could observe and hear people inside.

Eventually, the complaint indicates an officer was presented with a letter saying "if police were looking for Shawn Lewis, he was upstairs and on the run."

Officers determined Lewis was in the home, and that he had an active felony warrant out of Milwaukee.

Police worked to obtain a search warrant for the upper portion of the home, at which time they noticed a woman and Ames-Clark leaving the residence. They were detained, and officers discovered Ames-Clark was the registered resident of the apartment.

Ames-Clark was interviewed, and told officials he was trying to help the woman found by police wandering the streets -- saying she was staying at a Milwaukee residence with him and his girlfriend -- and that he had known the woman for about three weeks, according to the complaint.

Ames-Clark told officials he brought the woman to Plymouth to have sex with her -- saying he thought she was 19 years old, according to the complaint.

Ames-Clark told officials when he learned the woman was younger, he kicked her out of the Plymouth home.

Lewis was eventually taken into custody, and he declined to speak with officers.

Clark's record was clean before his arrest, while Lewis had a warrant out in Milwaukee County for felony burglary.

In court Thursday, $25,000 cash bond was set for each man in this case.

Both men will be back in court on January 29th. Since these are felony charges, the state must next prove "probable cause" in order for the case to go to trial.

If convicted, Ames-Clark and Lewis could each face up to $100,000 in fines and 40 years in prison.

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