NORTH FORT MYERS, Fl., A man is facing charges after a North Fort Myers teen was forced to become a sex slave.
Police arrest and charged Joesph Lewis Jr., 34, with human trafficking and sexual battery of a minor. with human trafficking and sexual battery of a minor.
According to a police report, Lewis forced a 17 year old girl to have sex with 7 or 8 men for money.
Police say that Lewis took the minor to a La Quinta Hotel in Plantation, Florida and forced her to do sex acts with the men because she, “owed him money for helping her,” as she was trying to get home.
Lewis then posted an ad on Backpage, a website known for soliciting prostitutes, even including the minor’s phone number in the ad.
That led to a series of sexual encounters with different men who paid her, and she then gave the money to Lewis.
At one point she called for help and pleaded with Lewis to not have sex with the men. She even contemplated jumping out of the fourth floor hotel window to escape.
The teen says she was afraid to leave the room because she was told she was being watched by Lewis and his friends.
During the course of the ordeal, which lasted Friday and Saturday, Police say Lewis also raped the minor inside the hotel room.
Police responded to the hotel on Saturday and arrested Lewis, who admitted that he rented the room and the teen was with him.
