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Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Kamal Dorchy, age 46, of Beltsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to the federal charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Chief Lisa D. Myers of the Howard County Police Department; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Interim Chief Hector Velez of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Howard County State’s Attorney Rich Gibson.
According to Dorchy’s plea agreement, from September 2016 to July 2017, Dorchy conspired with others to commit sex trafficking. Dorchy posted prostitution advertisements on Internet websites. Dorchy also recruited sex workers for his prostitution business through advertisements on Internet websites for massage work or prostitution.
As detailed in his plea agreement, on July 27, 2017 a Howard County Police Department detective met with an adult sex worker (Victim 1) at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland. Victim 1 advised the detective about Dorchy’s conduct. The victim also told the detective she went by a name in prostitution ads that Dorchy had given her.
Further, Dorchy agrees that he met a 17-year-old minor at a strip club in July of 2017 and recruited the minor victim to work for him. Dorchy claims that he was not aware of her true age at the time, and believed she was 18 years of age due to her employment at the strip club. The minor victim informed law enforcement that she told Dorchy her true age before she was trafficked. Dorchy arranged prostitution dates for the minor victim by posting ads on Internet websites, including for dates in Maryland. When Dorchy could not be there for the minor victim’s prostitution dates, he employed his cousin to act as “security.” The minor victim was 17 years old during the entire time that she was trafficked.
A third sex trafficking victim, an adult female, advised law enforcement that she met Dorchy in 2016 during a job interview for a massage business at a hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was told that she would be walking clients to appointments. The victim advised that later, she did prostitution dates at Dorchy’s direction at the massage business.
As part of his plea agreement, Dorchy will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Dorchy and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Dorchy will be sentenced to between six years and 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell has scheduled sentencing for May 27, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
This case was investigated by law enforcement agencies that are members of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.mdhumantrafficking.org/.
Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner praised HSI, the Howard County, Baltimore County, and Prince George’s County Police Departments, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao, Adam K. Ake, and Jeffrey J. Izant, who are prosecuting the case.
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Marcia Murphy
(410) 209-4854