Police arrested two northeast Iowa women on human trafficking charges Thursday, alleging they transported a 13-year-old Dubuque female to Chicago for prostitution.
Breanne M. Morgan, 18, of Dubuque, and Shelby R. Johnson, 18, of Postville, Iowa, were arrested on a warrant charging enticing away a minor.
Johnson and Morgan are accused of traveling to Chicago in November 2008 with a then-13-year-old runaway from a residential facility. A confidential informant told police of overhearing the women talking about the teen having sex with multiple men while drugged, according to court documents.
A man told police that Johnson and Morgan visited his suburban Chicago home with a "young girl." They took her into the city and left her there, forcing her to find her own way back to the suburb.
The teen later told police that over the course of the trip, she engaged in various sex acts, believing she would be paid for them. However, she didn't receive any payment, according to court documents.
The confidential informant also described watching Johnson and Morgan display cash and explain they received it during the trip. Then, they agreed to deny knowledge of the situation if questioned by police, records state. Investigators tracked Johnson's cell phone activity to pinpoint her locations between Dubuque and Chicago during the trip.
Authorities were tipped off to the incident after the teen returned to Dubuque, where she was a victim of an assault, records state.
Johnson was arrested in Postville on Thursday by an FBI agent and an agent with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations.
Morgan remains in custody in the Dubuque County Jail. Johnson was released on bond. When reached by phone, Johnson declined to comment.
The women face up to 10 years in prison on the charge.
