VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - On November 11, 2020, an Uber driver called police from Linkhorn Circle after he reported a suspicious circumstance, according to documents.
Records state he said he had a young female passenger who did not know who she was meeting, and he said the situation seemed odd.
When police arrived, the girl allegedly told them a 25-year-old woman forced her to go to Virginia Beach from New York in June.
That woman was arrested for pimping, prostitution, contributing to the delinquency of child abuse, sex trafficking and several other charges.
Omel Mclean is also facing the same and additional charges. The two are from New York City.
News 3 reached out to the woman in jail and interviewed her exclusively.
We are not identifying her because she said she has been the victim of sex trafficking since she was 14 years old. She said she has grown tired of the lifestyle and was disgusted by it. She said in a way, she is glad that she has been arrested along with Mclean.
“I, over and over and over again, had to watch the same thing that happened to me happen to other females, so I’m kind of happy it’s happening, but it makes it worse because I’m caught in the middle of it,” she said.
She said she has to turn over all her money, faces constant violence and has no form of identification.
She said the teen was from Connecticut.
Documents state the teen told authorities that she met up with the woman and Mclean in New York City, where she was told to wear wigs and dresses as they took pictures.
Documents state the teen said the woman was given condoms and marijuana and purchased two tickets from Manhattan to Norfolk.
Records say the teen had all her money taken and that the man came down about a week later to collect it.
She said she would see about five clients per day.
“That was something we all do. She saw five clients; I see more than five clients a day. I’m not saying it in a way that I don’t have emotions towards it... we know what we signed up for,” said the woman.
Documents state that after a few weeks, the teen said she tried to get away with the help of a client. Documents state that the woman threatened her and said someone would kill her.
The woman denies threatening the teen and said she tried to help her get away.
“I didn’t want her to do it to begin with, and her and I talked about that several times: 'If you don’t want do it, you can go; I’ll take the blame for you leaving,' which I normally always do,” said the woman.
The teen was given the nickname "Princess."
On November 20, law enforcement executed a joint operation in which the woman was arrested for prostitution. Records say that while in custody, she admitted that the teen looked young and was probably 15 or 16 years old.
During the interview, the woman allegedly admitted to taking 40% of the teen's pay and taking about three to four other females to Virginia from New York, according to the documents.
It is unclear the exact age of the minor involved in this case.
Police executed a search warrant on a hotel room in Norfolk and arrested Mclean.
Records say authorities discovered wigs, dresses, condoms and a notebook with details about pimping girls.
Survivor-turned-advocate Olivia Reposa from Survivor Ventures, a local nonprofit, said she knows the horrors of being trafficked and praised the Uber driver for calling the police.
“I think it’s amazing that this Uber driver thought to think of something like that because a lot of people like to turn away and have a blindside to it and act like it’s not happening when it really is right in front of their face,” said Reposa.
“I got tired of it. I didn’t want do it anymore. Being 25 and doing the same thing since you were 14 gets tiring. Seeing all the females come and go - I got tired, and I didn’t want do it. I am guilty, and the fact that I allowed a young girl to be put in the same predicament that I was in..." said the woman, but she said she did not think she was guilty for the situation with the minor because she claimed she tried to help the teen.
Mclean and the woman both have a hearing on May 3 for the many charges they are facing.
Mclean denied News 3's request for an interview from jail. We also reached out to his attorney but have not heard back.
