Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Compel Labor by Three Minors and to Transporting a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

(South Asian Insider Bureau) Darnell Fulton, 38, of Pineville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to compel labor by three minors and to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to the plea agreement, between June 2016 and May 2019, the defendant used violence, sexual abuse, withholding of food, degradation and intimidation to coerce multiple minors to work for his brownie baking business and provide him with the business profits. The defendant required the victims to travel to as many as 20-30 locations a day, such as plazas, car dealerships, law firms, restaurants and parking lots, in order to sell brownies. The victims worked late into the night, either selling or baking the brownies, and sold them during the day instead of going to school. In fact, the victims typically worked seven days a week with very few breaks, and had to meet a sales quota every day. The defendant regularly assaulted the victims, especially if they did not meet his sales quotas. For example, the defendant frequently required the victims to get on their hands and knees on rice and stay in a pushup or plank position for hours, and he often whipped them with a belt if they got out of proper form. He also forced the minor victims to perform sexual acts with him and others, and transported them across state lines in order to engage in criminal sexual activity. “Human trafficking is a heinous crime that targets some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, cruelly exploiting the victims for their labor and services,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This conviction makes clear that the Department of Justice will prosecute those who use violence, psychological abuse, and emotional manipulation to compel the labor and services of their victims. We encourage survivors of forced labor, including children, to report forced labor complaints to authorities.” “This case is proof that human trafficking doesn’t just happen in other countries,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown for the Western District of Louisiana. “But in fact, human trafficking can be happening right in our own neighborhoods and communities without us even realizing it.