OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A Warren man has been charged with human trafficking after the victim escaped and told police that he had “threatened to kill her if she left,” officials said.
Lawrence Robert Harris Weaver, 48, was charged with human trafficking, forced labor resulting in injury/commercial sexual activity and prostitution/accepting earnings, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
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On Monday, July 21, the victim allegedly ran away from the man in Madison Heights after “he allegedly hit the victim in the mouth because she said she would no longer engage in commercial sex work,” officials said.
She went to a nearby business for assistance. When officers arrived, they took her to a local hospital.
The victim told authorities that the Warren man had “threatened to kill her if she left, citing the case of a sex worker found murdered in Detroit,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
The man faces up to 15 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine for the human trafficking charge and up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution charge.