A woman in her 20s was run over by a car by a 30-year-old Boston man she once considered her boyfriend when she attempted to leave after being sex trafficked, according to court documents.
Leon Blount III, 30, of Boston, was indicted Thursday and charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and three counts of transportation of minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins’ office said.
The woman said she had met Blount about a year earlier and they were in a long-distance relationship, according to court documents. After talking daily for about two months, officials said Blount moved from Houston, Texas back to Massachusetts.
Blount then suggested the woman create an OnlyFans account. But the woman said she didn’t want to, court documents state.
But Blount was persistent, officials said, and they created the account. Court documents state they uploaded videos of the two of them. However, the woman was instructed “not to touch the money associated with the OnlyFans.com account,” court documents read.
In January 2022, they both traveled to New York together. They started their trip with “tourist activities, including shopping,” court documents state. But then Blount told the woman they weren’t making enough money from OnlyFans. Instead, he suggested he could post advertisements online and she could use the hotel room for sex in exchange for money, officials said. She said she did not want to do it.
“He told her if she did not want to do it, he would find another girl who would do it,” court documents state.
So, she did.
This continued when they returned to Massachusetts, court documents state.
On Sept. 23, officials said the woman tried to escape with a friend who was posing as her “new pimp.”
Blount, however, didn’t believe them, officials said. According to court documents, he tried to force her out of her car after breaking the car window with a rock. He then sprayed her in the face with pepper spray she had on her key chain, officials said.
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“Then, Blount got into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and as [the woman] tried to escape the car, Blount drove over her ankle,” court documents state, adding that her ankle was fractured.
She was able to go inside her residence and lock the door. He climbed through a window, officials said, but wasn’t able to enter her apartment.
While receiving medical care at the Lowell General Hospital, he called her, officials said.
“You thought it was over, I’m gonna get you b****,” he reportedly said. He also wrote “B**** ya not safe” on her apartment walls while she was at the hospital, court documents state.
Blount was arrested soon after. But officials said the woman in her 20s wasn’t the only person he sex trafficked or attempted to sex traffic.
Police received reports of a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman missing from a Massachusetts group home. Officials said they were both later found with Blount.
Blount had told them “about how they could make money and live a luxurious lifestyle,” court documents state. “However, Blount did not disclose his plan to have them engage in prostitution.”
The two also went to New York with Blount, according to court documents. Other times, court documents state, they went to Connecticut.
“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Whether labor or sex trafficking, if someone is profiting off of a person they control through threat, force or coercion, they are committing a felony. We allege that Mr. Blount targeted two victims – one of whom was a minor – whom he groomed and trafficked to engage in commercial sex across multiple states and used extreme violence to keep one of his victims under his control,” Rollins said in a statement. “January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and, with the perseverance and bravery of the victims, our dedicated Civil Rights & Human Trafficking Unit will spare no expense or resource to protect our communities, our children, and our Commonwealth from this growing public health threat.”
The charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Each count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Blount is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Jan. 19.
