Man charged with human trafficking in Howard County – The … – Washington Post

By Sharif Hassan By Sharif Hassan August 2

A Baltimore man was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of human trafficking after an investigation revealed he was forcing multiple women into prostitution in Howard County, police said.

Kamal Goodwyn, 43, also known as Kamal Dorchy of Charles Plaza in Baltimore, is being held in Howard County without bond in the trafficking after allegedly posting ads for the women on Backpage, police said.

Police began investigating the case July 23 after a woman called police from a motel in Laurel and told them she was a victim of human trafficking by a man and that she was tired of working for him, according to charging documents filed in the case.

Goodwyn was arrested after the police located him when he rented a motel room in Prince Georges County, police said. Three more women were discovered in the room, all believed to be trafficking victims and between the ages of 17 and 24, according to police.

Police charge that he coordinated and arranged appointments at motels for the women and forced them to perform sex acts for money. He found women by running ads offering jobs in massage work or prostitution, police said, and took half of the money they earned through performing sex acts and also controlled their access to cellphones, food and sleep.

Police said Goodwyn also physically assaulted the women, threatened them with a handgun and supplied them with drugs. He recently beat one woman who tried to hide money from him and threw her from a car onto a road, according to the charging documents that also said one of the women told police he hits you like a man.

The public defender assigned to Goodwyn could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

All four women were taken to a safe location, police said.

Goodwyn faces a preliminary hearing set for Aug. 30 in Howard County, according to Wayne Kirwan, Director of Community Justice and Public Information Howard County State's Attorney's Office.

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