A Detroit man is facing federal charges for sex trafficking after five women were discovered inside his home on Thursday, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced.
Richard Jackson, 67, was in federal court on Friday and is being detained until his bond hearing on Monday afternoon.
According to the criminal complaint, Detroit police responded to a home in southwest Detroit on Thursday after a 911 call.
When they arrived, the found a woman who said Jackson forced her and four others, two adults and two juveniles, to be a prostitute.
She told police that Jackson gave them drugs and beat them if they didn't perform well as prostitutes.
One of the victims said Jackson broke her arm when she didn't want to go on a date. She went to the hospital for treatment, and when she returned home, Jackson broke the arm for a second time, according to the affidavit.
Inside the home, police found a large, black steel gate and a lock on the stairs to the upstairs of the residence.
One of the victims told police that Jackson would get the girls hooked on drugs to keep them at the house. He often gave them heroin just long enough to have them addicted.
"Once addicted, Jackson and his associates began making the girls do commercial sex dates and move drugs for them," the affidavit states.
Police say the two adult victims were inside the home when they arrived, but the two juveniles escaped from a window earlier in the day. They have not yet been recovered. They are believed to be 15 and 16 years old.
