The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Tyree Coleman, founder and operator of Refuge Place in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been charged with the promotion of child sex trafficking, rape, promotion of human sex trafficking and two counts of intimidation. Another news report stated Coleman is an elder at Seven Pillars Faith Ministry.
An Indianapolis pastor who ran a non-profit to feed homeless people is now accused of rape and offering a 17-year-old $1000 to have sex with him.
Tyree Coleman, 43, is charged with the promotion of child sex trafficking, rape, promotion of human sex trafficking and two counts of intimidation.
According to court documents, a 17-year-old came forward in June 2022 and told police that Coleman offered to pay him to have sex with him.
The 17-year-old told police Coleman initially sent him $50 to buy new shoes. The teen told police that Coleman said he was bisexual and offered the teen $1,000 to either have sex with him or show him his genitals, according to court records.
Court documents reveal that after the teen came forward to police, they got a search warrant for Coleman’s cell phone and located several messages that showed Coleman was paying for sex along with nude photos of “young-looking males.”
The detective estimated the photos were of males ranging in age from 15 to their late 30s.
Police discovered that Coleman was the founder of Refuge Place Indy, which feeds homeless people in Indianapolis.
According to court documents, investigators believe Coleman was using donations to his non-profit to pay for sex acts.
During that investigation, police received a new complaint from a Logansport man who accused Coleman of raping him.
The man told officers he missed his bus in Indianapolis and was left stranded in the city. He later saw Coleman handing out clothing and food in Indianapolis and said Coleman offered him a room at his home, according to court records.
The victim told investigators that Coleman would pay him to perform oral sex and later agreed to have sex with Coleman. According to court documents, while the two were having sex the victim told Coleman to stop several times but Coleman refused.
The victim also told police that Coleman threatened to kill him if he had a sexually transmitted disease.
“My faith says this is what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to serve,” Coleman said during an interview with FOX59/CBS4 in 2019.
Coleman repeatedly made pleas on television and online for donations to Refuge Place Indy to support the homeless feeding. Court documents do not reveal how much of that money was used to pay for sex.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
All over the country, well-meaning Americans are convinced that human trafficking—and specifically child sex trafficking—is happening right in their backyard, or at any rate no farther away than the nearest mall parking lot. A 2020 survey by the political scientists Joseph Uscinski and Adam Enders found that 35 percent of Americans think the number of children who are victims of trafficking each year is about 300,000 or higher; 24 percent think it is “much higher.” Online, people read that trafficking is a problem nobody else is willing to discuss: The city they live in is a “hot spot,” their state one of the worst in the country. Despite what the mainstream media are saying, this is “the real pandemic.”
Of course, child sex trafficking does happen, and it is horrible. The crime is a serious concern of human-rights organizations and of governments all over the world. Statistically, however, it is hard to get a handle on: The data are often misleading, when they exist at all. Whatever the incidence, sex trafficking does not involve Tom Hanks or hundreds of thousands of American children.
When today’s activists talk about the problem of trafficking, knowing exactly what they’re referring to can be difficult. They cite statistics that actually offer global estimates of all forms of labor trafficking. Or they mention outdated and hard-to-parse figures about the number of children who go “missing” in the United States every year—most of whom are never in any immediate danger—and then start talking about children who are abducted by strangers and sold into sex slavery.
While stereotypical kidnappings—what you picture when you hear the word—do occur, the annual number hovers around 100. Sex trafficking also occurs in the United States. The U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline has been operated by the anti-trafficking nonprofit Polaris Project and overseen and partially funded by the Department of Health and Human Services since 2007. In 2019, it recorded direct contacts with 14,597 likely victims of sex trafficking of all ages. (The average age at which these likely victims were first trafficked—“age of entry,” as the statistic is called—was 17.) The organization itself doesn’t regard its figure for direct contacts as one that should be used with too much confidence—it is probably low, but no more solid data exist.
There is a widely circulated number, and it’s even bigger than the one Laura Pamatian and her volunteer chapter publicized: 800,000 children go missing in the U.S. every year. The figure shows up on T-shirts and handmade posters, and in the captions of Instagram posts. But the number doesn’t mean what the people sharing it think it means. It comes from a study conducted in 1999 by the Justice Department, and it’s an estimate of the number of children who were reported missing over the period of a year for any reason and for any length of time. The majority were runaways, children caught up in custody disputes, or children who were temporarily not where their guardians expected them to be. The estimate for “nonfamily abductions” reported to authorities was 12,100, which includes stereotypical kidnappings, but came with the caveat that it was extrapolated from “an extremely small sample of cases” and, as a result, “its precision and confidence interval are unreliable.” Later in the report, the authors noted that “only a fraction of 1 percent of the children who were reported missing had not been recovered” by the time they were counted for the study. The authors also clarified that a survey sent to law-enforcement agencies found that “an estimated 115 of the nonfamily abducted children were victims of stereotypical kidnapping.” The Justice Department repeated the study in 2013 and found that reports of missing children had “significantly decreased.”
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2017, three Toledo, Ohio Evangelical pastors, Anthony Haynes, Cordell Jenkins, and Kenneth Butler were accused of child sex trafficking. Since then, Haynes and Jenkins have received life sentences for their crimes, and Butler was sentenced to 17½ years in prison.
I have written numerous posts on this sordid story:
In 2019, Cordell Jenkins’ wife, Laura Lloyd was sentenced to 21 months in prison for lying to federal prosecutors.
The final chapter of this story has now been written. Alisa Haynes — the wife of Anthony Haynes — and his stepdaughter, Alexis Fortune, have been sentenced to 24 months and 48 months respectively in federal prison for witness tampering.
…are accused of kidnapping one of the teen victims Saturday, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Toledo.
During that time, they’re accused of pointing a gun at her and choking her with a black computer cord to convince her not to go through with testifying at Mr. Haynes’ trial.
The women are charged with tampering with a witness, victim, or informant just weeks before Mr. Haynes’ trial is scheduled in U.S. District Court, where the victim is slated to testify.
….
At roughly midnight Saturday, the girl — whose name was not released — stated she was home with her younger sister when she heard someone knock on her apartment door. She looked through the peephole but could not see anyone, according to the criminal complaint.
he girl knew by the person’s voice that it was Ms. Fortune; she opened the door and saw Ms. Fortune wearing a mask, black gloves, and holding a silver revolver, according to the criminal complaint. Ms. Fortune is accused of pointing the loaded gun at the girl’s head, forcing her way into the apartment — locking the door behind her — and taking the girl’s phone.
Ms. Fortune is accused of then choking her with a computer cord, according to the complaint. Shortly after, Ms. Haynes entered the apartment and Ms. Fortune directed the girl into the kitchen for a “heart-to-heart” conversation.
“Alexis told [the victim] how hard it is for their family to live financially and emotionally since Anthony’s been arrested, how they are depressed, and begged [the victim] not to go to trial,” according to the complaint.
In May 2020, Haynes and Fortune were both sentenced to federal prison for trying to get the victim to recant her story.
Alisa Haynes, 45, the wife of Anthony Haynes, and his stepdaughter, Alexis Fortune, 25, appeared by video conference to be sentenced by visiting Judge Bernard Friedman. Both women agreed to proceed with the hearing by video rather than in person at U.S. District Court in Toledo due to the coronavirus.
Haynes was sentenced to an agreed upon 24 months in federal prison, while Fortune was sentenced to 48 months for their roles in having a victim in a multiple year sex-trafficking case leave a voice message on Haynes’ cell phone which contradicted her story to law enforcement.
“Ms. Fortune gave one of the victims a phone in order to leave not just one, but two voicemail messages recanting what the victim said to law enforcement officers about what happened in the underlying sex-trafficking case,” U.S. Assistant Attorney Ashley Futrell said on Tuesday. “Your honor, that was the goal and the purpose of this night.”
On Tuesday, Fortune asked Judge Friedman why she was being sentenced to 48 months when the guideline range suggested a 30 to 37 month sentence for the sole offense of tampering with a witness or victim. She was originally charged with false statement or representation made to a department or agency of the United States and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Through a plea agreement, 48 months was a negotiated sentence as federal prosecutors said her initial charges would have led to significant time behind bars. The firearm offense alone carried a minimum of seven years in federal prison, said U.S. Assistant Attorney Michael Freeman.
Haynes and Fortune previously pleaded guilty in November to tampering with a witness or victim for going to the girl’s apartment on Jan. 4, 2019, which led to several hours of them and the victim’s minor sister driving around Toledo.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In late 2017, Evangelical pastors Cordell Jenkins, Anthony Haynes, and Kenneth Butler were indicted on charges of conspiracy to sex traffic children. The indicted men were affiliated with Abundant Life Ministries and Greater Life Christian Center, both in Toledo, Ohio.
Since then, Jenkins and Butler pleaded guilty. Haynes, on the other hand, decided to roll the dice and take his case to trial. The Star Tribune reports:
A minister who promised a woman he’d take care of her daughter began having sex with the teenager daily and later encouraged two other pastors to have sex with her as well, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Anthony Haynes could face up to life in prison if he’s convicted of child sex trafficking and other charges. The two other Toledo-area pastors charged in the investigation have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors said during the opening of Haynes’ trial that he first had sex with the girl when she was 14. They said the evidence against him includes text messages, photos, voice mails and DNA evidence from his church where the girl said they often had sex.
Haynes’ attorney told jurors that the allegations are shocking, but there’s not enough evidence to prove the trafficking and conspiracy charges he faces.
Attorney Pete Wagner also said Haynes may have had a questionable relationship with the girl, but he didn’t coordinate or take part in trafficking her to the other ministers. He also said there was no paying for sex.
Prosecutors say the girl had a difficult childhood and was sexually abused by a relative.
Haynes pledged in front of his congregation to protect her and serve as a father figure, but he began grooming her for sex when she turned 14 and first forced her to perform sex acts in front of him, said Michael Freeman, an assistant U.S. attorney.
They had sex day after day, often at a motel or his church, the Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo, and Haynes would give her cash, Freeman said.
After about a year, Haynes introduced her to Kenneth Butler, another pastor, and he also began having sex with her, Freeman said.
Sometimes, the two men joked about the arrangement, prosecutors said. One text shown in court that prosecutors say was sent by Butler to the girl said: “You better be nice and naked when I get there.”
Prosecutors said the girl next met Cordell Jenkins, a minister who founded his own church in Toledo and built a large following until it closed after his arrest.
The FBI has said in court documents that Jenkins had sex with two girls at his home, church office and a motel and often recorded the acts with his phone.
Haynes, prosecutors said, encouraged the relationship with Jenkins.
Anthony Haynes sobbed as he took the stand in federal court Wednesday, claiming he was manipulated by a teenage girl and he took the fall for sexual relationships between her and two other pastors.
….
Federal prosecutors rested Wednesday morning and the case was turned over to Mr. Haynes’ defense attorneys, Peter Wagner and John Thebes, calling Mr. Haynes to the stand — where he denied having a sexual relationship with the girl or encouraging her to have sex with the other pastors.
Mr. Haynes testified Wednesday that the girl threatened the pastor, saying she would tell people he was molesting her if she did not get things — like a cell phone.
….
dditionally, he said he knew the girl was having sexual relations with Butler and Jenkins, and he lied to federal investigators because he “was covering up for people,” he said. He previously told investigators that he had sexual relations with the teenage girl, took nude photos of her, and sent nude photos of her — but that was a false statement, he testified on Wednesday.
“I was tired. People don’t know what I was dealing with. Outside looking in, I look like the biggest monster,” Mr. Haynes said.
“I’m not no freak, I’m not a pervert. I’m an innocent family man with flaws and issues and I’m trying to get back to my family and children,” he added before breaking down into tears.
Mr. Haynes testified he eventually closed his church because the “secrets” of Jenkins and Butler were becoming too much. He said he never reported the incident to police.
….
Federal prosecutor Alisa Sterling asked Mr. Haynes how his and Butler’s sperm both got onto a small carpet sample. Mr. Haynes said he and his wife had sexual relations at the church and Butler also had a key to the building.
Ms. Sterling also showed Mr. Haynes a series of text messages between him and the girl, including ones referencing them having sex at the church and her being sore following the act.
He could not recall sending her sexually explicit photos and said some messages were taken out of context. He also claimed his social media account was hacked when a conversation between the two consisted of a conversation about a threesome.
….
Earlier this week, prosecutors called a series of FBI agents involved in the case; the victim’s school guidance counselor; a family friend who purchased her an iPhone for her 17th birthday; Mr. Haynes’ co-defendant, Kenneth Butler; and the victim.
The now 19-year-old woman in the case outlined a lengthy history with the pastors beginning with Mr. Haynes when she was 14, she said Tuesday. She moved in with the Haynes family in 2014, she testified.
The woman — who provided poised and direct answers during questioning — said Mr. Haynes began having sex with her at his church when she was a teenager before later introducing her to pastors Kenneth Butler and Cordell Jenkins, encouraging her to engage in sex acts with them.
Last Thursday, Haynes was sentenced to life in prison.
Haynes’ wife, Alisa Haynes, and step-daughter Alexis Fortune are charged with tempering with a witness, victim or informant. They each face 30 years in prison.
Evidently, the family that “preys” together stays together — in prison.
Laura Lloyd, former wife of convicted felon Cordell Jenkins (an Evangelical pastor) , was sentenced to 21 months in prison for lying to federal prosecutors.
After reading a multitude of explicit text messages that showed her then-husband was one of three pastors involved in sex-trafficking a teen girl, Laura Lloyd should have gone straight to notify authorities, a federal court judge said Tuesday.
Instead of helping the victim, the former Lucas County administrator was more concerned with protecting her own image, said Judge Jack Zouhary. He sentenced her to 21 months in prison for lying to federal investigators about her knowledge of the child sex-trafficking scheme at the hands of pastors Cordell Jenkins, Anthony Haynes, and Kenneth Butler.
….
Lloyd previously entered a guilty plea to lying to federal investigators after she lied about various details, such as not knowing the victim’s age, if the victim participated in Abundant Life Ministries youth programs, and if Jenkins was associated with Haynes.
She learned about her ex-husband’s involvement when she read a series of text messages for approximately 30 minutes during a March, 2017 meeting with the victim and her guardian. The next day, the victim disclosed the information to a school guidance counselor, starting the investigation.
Instead of notifying police after the meeting, Lloyd called her husband and Haynes to alert them of a likely investigation.
“How cannot that child, who is there with a guardian, be screaming in your ears to help? Yes, you should have done more. I appreciate that you recognize that now,” Judge Zouhary said.
While Judge Zouhary said he empathized with Lloyd that a person may not know how to handle a situation when first receiving shocking news, the victim was someone Lloyd knew and was a member of the same parish.
Additionally, federal investigators say Lloyd searched online for topics such as, “husband slept with 17 year old,” and “weiner Netflix,” referencing the U.S. congressman who pleaded guilty to federal child exploitation charges and went to prison.
“I’m frankly perplexed of you spending time online to look at how other people caught in a sex crime are able to survive publicly with that situation and continue with their lives,” the judge said. “The focus with you was, ‘How can I survive this situation?’ ”
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In late 2017, Evangelical pastors Cordell Jenkins, Anthony Haynes, and Kenneth Butler were indicted on charges of conspiracy to sex traffic children. The indicted men were affiliated with Abundant Life Ministries and Greater Life Christian Center, both in Toledo, Ohio.
Since then, Jenkins and Butler pleaded guilty. Haynes, on the other hand, decided to roll the dice and take his case to trial. The Star Tribune reports:
A minister who promised a woman he’d take care of her daughter began having sex with the teenager daily and later encouraged two other pastors to have sex with her as well, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Anthony Haynes could face up to life in prison if he’s convicted of child sex trafficking and other charges. The two other Toledo-area pastors charged in the investigation have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors said during the opening of Haynes’ trial that he first had sex with the girl when she was 14. They said the evidence against him includes text messages, photos, voice mails and DNA evidence from his church where the girl said they often had sex.
Haynes’ attorney told jurors that the allegations are shocking, but there’s not enough evidence to prove the trafficking and conspiracy charges he faces.
Attorney Pete Wagner also said Haynes may have had a questionable relationship with the girl, but he didn’t coordinate or take part in trafficking her to the other ministers. He also said there was no paying for sex.
Prosecutors say the girl had a difficult childhood and was sexually abused by a relative.
Haynes pledged in front of his congregation to protect her and serve as a father figure, but he began grooming her for sex when she turned 14 and first forced her to perform sex acts in front of him, said Michael Freeman, an assistant U.S. attorney.
They had sex day after day, often at a motel or his church, the Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo, and Haynes would give her cash, Freeman said.
After about a year, Haynes introduced her to Kenneth Butler, another pastor, and he also began having sex with her, Freeman said.
Sometimes, the two men joked about the arrangement, prosecutors said. One text shown in court that prosecutors say was sent by Butler to the girl said: “You better be nice and naked when I get there.”
Prosecutors said the girl next met Cordell Jenkins, a minister who founded his own church in Toledo and built a large following until it closed after his arrest.
The FBI has said in court documents that Jenkins had sex with two girls at his home, church office and a motel and often recorded the acts with his phone.
Haynes, prosecutors said, encouraged the relationship with Jenkins.
Anthony Haynes sobbed as he took the stand in federal court Wednesday, claiming he was manipulated by a teenage girl and he took the fall for sexual relationships between her and two other pastors.
….
Federal prosecutors rested Wednesday morning and the case was turned over to Mr. Haynes’ defense attorneys, Peter Wagner and John Thebes, calling Mr. Haynes to the stand — where he denied having a sexual relationship with the girl or encouraging her to have sex with the other pastors.
Mr. Haynes testified Wednesday that the girl threatened the pastor, saying she would tell people he was molesting her if she did not get things — like a cell phone.
….
dditionally, he said he knew the girl was having sexual relations with Butler and Jenkins, and he lied to federal investigators because he “was covering up for people,” he said. He previously told investigators that he had sexual relations with the teenage girl, took nude photos of her, and sent nude photos of her — but that was a false statement, he testified on Wednesday.
“I was tired. People don’t know what I was dealing with. Outside looking in, I look like the biggest monster,” Mr. Haynes said.
“I’m not no freak, I’m not a pervert. I’m an innocent family man with flaws and issues and I’m trying to get back to my family and children,” he added before breaking down into tears.
Mr. Haynes testified he eventually closed his church because the “secrets” of Jenkins and Butler were becoming too much. He said he never reported the incident to police.
….
Federal prosecutor Alisa Sterling asked Mr. Haynes how his and Butler’s sperm both got onto a small carpet sample. Mr. Haynes said he and his wife had sexual relations at the church and Butler also had a key to the building.
Ms. Sterling also showed Mr. Haynes a series of text messages between him and the girl, including ones referencing them having sex at the church and her being sore following the act.
He could not recall sending her sexually explicit photos and said some messages were taken out of context. He also claimed his social media account was hacked when a conversation between the two consisted of a conversation about a threesome.
….
Earlier this week, prosecutors called a series of FBI agents involved in the case; the victim’s school guidance counselor; a family friend who purchased her an iPhone for her 17th birthday; Mr. Haynes’ co-defendant, Kenneth Butler; and the victim.
The now 19-year-old woman in the case outlined a lengthy history with the pastors beginning with Mr. Haynes when she was 14, she said Tuesday. She moved in with the Haynes family in 2014, she testified.
The woman — who provided poised and direct answers during questioning — said Mr. Haynes began having sex with her at his church when she was a teenager before later introducing her to pastors Kenneth Butler and Cordell Jenkins, encouraging her to engage in sex acts with them.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Last year, three Toledo, Ohio pastors were accused of child sex trafficking. Since then, one preacher has pleaded guilty and the other two await a January trial date. You can read my previous articles here, here, here, here, and here. Tuesday, another one of the pastors pleaded guilty. Cordell Jenkins, pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Toledo, Ohio, pleaded guilty in Federal court to two counts of child sex trafficking and one count of sexual exploitation of children. Jenkins faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Toledo Blade reports:
A former prominent Toledo pastor pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to having sex with two teenage girls and receiving nude photos of one of them.
Cordell Jenkins, 48, pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of children and one count of sexual exploitation of children during an appearance in U.S. District Court in Toledo. He faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. Other counts against Jenkins will be dismissed.
His plea comes prior to an anticipated child-sex trafficking conspiracy trial, which was scheduled to begin next week.
….
In 2016, a 16-year-old girl and her guardian attended services at Jenkins’ church, Abundant Life Ministries. Shortly after meeting the girl, Mr. Haynes allegedly called Jenkins to say she was “out there,” referring to her sexually, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman.
Jenkins’ and the girl’s sexual relationship lasted from December, 2016, to March, 2017, federal prosecutors said.
Jenkins communicated with the girl via text message and their conversations were often sexual in nature, Mr. Freeman said. Jenkins arranged to have sex with her numerous times at his church office, his home, and a hotel, and often gave her money following the act. In total, the girl received approximately $400, prosecutors said.
The former pastor also persuaded the girl to send explicit photographs to him.
Also in February, 2017, Jenkins asked the girl to find a teenage friend to be involved in a threesome. The three went to the Red Roof Inn in Holland, where they engaged in sexual conduct, Mr. Freeman said.
