When a 13-year-old prostitute tried to leave her pimp, the
Miami man forced her to tattoo his street name on her eyelids.
The
teenager now has her torturer’s nickname, Suave, on her right eyelid. On her
left eyelid, she was inked with the word House, suggesting that she belonged to
him.
Suave,
known formally as Roman Thomas III, was arrested last Monday by Miami police.
The 26-year-old and a female accomplice, Shanteria Sanders, “compelled and
coerced” the young girl into becoming a prostitute, giving her drugs to keep
her obedient.
Nicknamed
Sparkle, the teen ran away from a turbulent home. She met Thomas on March 12 at
the USA Flea Market in Miami. One day later, he saw her again and convinced her
to come home with him. He was living at the Miami Shores Motel. It was there
that Thomas and Sanders took “provocative” photos of the girl, uploading them
to the classifieds section on Backpage.com. Sparkle was advertised as the “new
girl,” according to police reports.
Thomas
and Sanders then forced the 13-year-old to become a prostitute. They gave her
condoms and taught her how to speak with customers. They used drugs to keep
Sparkle dependent on them — alcohol, marijuana and “Molly,” a form of MDMA.
When johns came to the motel asking for her services, Thomas and Sanders
charged them up to $100 per hour and counted the cash after every visit.
Once,
when the two realized that some money was missing, they duct-taped the young
girl and “threatened to kill her.”
After
Sparkle threatened to run away, Thomas and Sanders hauled her back to the Flea
Market, where she was tattooed.
“It’s outrageous that this girl would be branded for life
at such an early age, on of all places her eyelids,” investigator Lt. Jose
Alfonso told the Miami Herald.
Sanders,
23, also bears Thomas’ mark on her body. The word “Suave” is tattooed across
her chest.
Thomas
was already serving five years of probation when Miami police took him into
custody. He spent four years in prison for having s*x with a minor. He was
released in September with a GPS monitor strapped to his ankle. On March 10,
Miami police received a warning from the device that the bracelet had been removed.
That was just two days before he met Sparkle.
The
young girl’s mother managed to track her down, directing Miami police to her
pimp.
Sparkle
is now receiving therapy from Project GOLD, a branch of the non-profit Kristi
House that helps sexually exploited children deal with the physical, emotional,
psychological and spiritual repercussions of being abused.
Both
Thomas and Sanders face charges of human trafficking, false imprisonment, lewd
and lascivious exhibition and delivery of a controlled substance to a child.
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