U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Terrence
Yarbrough, aka “T-Rex,” 38, of Memphis, Tenn., to serve 536 months in
prison, the Justice Department announced today.
A jury convicted Yarbrough on Dec. 5, 2012 of 10 counts of sex
trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud.
“The Civil Rights Division is committed to pursuing justice on behalf of
vulnerable members of our society,” said Acting Assistant Attorney
General Jocelyn Samuels.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that the United States
will not tolerate modern-day slavery and will work tirelessly to restore
the rights and dignity of its victims.”
“Today’s sentence of 536 months in prison ensures Terrence Yarbrough, a
ruthless predator who inflicted unspeakable physical and emotional harm
upon vulnerable young women, will be held accountable for his depraved
acts,” said Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western
District of Tennessee.
“We will continue to prosecute those who engage in such reprehensible conduct of coercion and exploitation.”
During the trial, victims recounted a series of violent acts perpetrated
by Yarbrough to coerce them into prostituting for him, including being
beat with belts, wooden coat hangers, crowbars, padlocks and dog chains;
being thrown down stairs; having their heads smashed in car doors;
having their legs burned with irons; and being scalded with boiling
water.
“The horrific physical violence, sexual abuse, and emotional torment
suffered by the victims in this case cannot be undone, but this sentence
ensures that their violent and evil predator will face the consequences
of his actions,” said
A. Todd McCall, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis Division of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “The efforts of the FBI and our law
enforcement partners have removed a human trafficker from our streets.
We will continue to work together to aggressively pursue and bring to
justice those who cruelly exploit others for profit, and to restore the
rights and dignity of human trafficking victims.”
“
The USDA-Office of Inspector General is committed to the investigation
and prosecution of those individuals who fraudulently obtain food stamp
benefits,”
said Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent in Charge of the Southeast
Region for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector
General. “We are very pleased we were able to work with the U.S.
Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies in this case
.”
Evidence presented at trial included the testimony of 10 victims identified in the indictment as well as several eyewitnesses.
Numerous witnesses testified that Yarbrough repeatedly lured
vulnerable victims, some as young as 15 years old, into prostitution
with false promises of love, family and prosperity.
The evidence showed that any time a victim refused to engage in
prostitution, Yarbrough resorted to threats, intimidation and
violence. The jury heard testimony that Yarbrough’s pattern of
recruitment, exploitation, and violent coercion continued for years
before his 2009 arrest in St. Louis.
One victim testified that Yarbrough forced her to engage in prostitution
the entire time she was pregnant with his child and that he frequently
beat her on the stomach when she did not want to comply with his
demands.
He induced labor through a severe beating in her eighth month
of pregnancy, during which time he also had her working as a prostitute
in Tunica, Miss.
Yarbrough drove her back to Memphis, dropped her off at a
hospital, and forced her to resume prostituting the day after her
release.
At a later date, Yarbrough smashed her on the head with a lamp
and kicked out her front teeth when she tried to stop prostituting for
him.
Another victim testified that Yarbrough lured her into prostitution by
promising to reunite her with their children, then beat her severely
when she insisted on seeing them and refused to continue working,
punching her in the face so hard that he broke three of her teeth.
On another occasion, he beat her knees with a metal pipe, causing injuries that continue to affect her.
She also testified that Yarbrough threatened to prostitute their nine-year-old daughter.
Further testimony showed that a victim slept through a phone call from a
client after prostituting for days on end with almost no sleep, and
that when Yarbrough found out that she had missed the call, he smashed
her head into a car door, dragged her by the hair to his hotel room and
beat her with his belt.
Jurors also saw a letter addressed to the same victim and
signed by Yarbrough stating that he was proud she did not scream during
the aforementioned beating.
Witnesses testified that as a warning, Yarbrough bragged about his beatings of some victims to other victims.
Jurors also saw the “T-Rex” logos Yarbrough tattooed on four
separate victims, and heard that he claimed that they had been “branded”
as his property.
Testimony and jail recordings showed that Yarbrough confiscated
his victims’ identification documents and money to make it difficult
for them to escape.
Jurors also heard testimony that Yarbrough conspired with his mother,
Norma Yarbrough Webb, 66, and Michelle Johnson, 41, to fraudulently
obtain food stamp benefits while Yarbrough was incarcerated.
Johnson and Webb previously pled guilty to related charges.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Office of the Inspector General, with assistance from the
St. Louis Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti and Trial Attorney
Benjamin J. Hawk of the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights
Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.
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