Feds: Man forced disabled girl into prostitution


By ELAINE SILVESTRINI

Published: April 13, 2010

Updated: 04/14/2010 12:03 am


Mario Alberto Laguna-GuerreroTAMPA - A 25-year-old illegal immigrant is accused of forcing a developmentally disabled girl into prostitution and raping her mentally disabled friend in front of her, according to federal court papers.

Mario Laguna-Guerrero told investigators he took the girl to migrant labor camps in eastern Hillsborough County where she had sex with men for $25 each, according to a federal complaint.

He is charged with sex trafficking of a minor and could face up to life in prison. A judge today ordered him held without bail.

Laguna-Guerrero said he had been "dating" the girl, who is now 17 and has an IQ of 58, for two years and asked her to prostitute for him several months ago. He said she wanted to help him pay a debt to the smuggler who brought him into the United States from Mexico, records state.

Laguna-Guerrero said the smuggler threatened to cut off his fingers, according to an affidavit filed by an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who is part of a regional Human Trafficking Task Force. The agent wrote that the smuggler claims were not credible, and that Laguna-Guerrero told inconsistent stories to law enforcement officers.

The girl told investigators she had been dating Laguna-Guerrero and that he pressured her into prostitution, records state. She said he would manipulate her by cutting himself and saying it was her fault.

The girl described an incident in which Laguna-Guerrero cut his chest, and investigators said they found a scar on his chest consistent with the girl's account.

The girl said Laguna-Guerrero also blamed her for him losing his job.

She said Laguna-Guerrero collected the money for her prostitution and gave her some of it at the end of the night. She said he used the money to work on his car.

Laguna-Guerrero told investigators he asked the girl to recruit high school classmates to be prostitutes, records state.

The girl said Laguna-Guerrero pressured her into recruiting and that she tried to recruit her 19-year-old friend on a school bus. The 19-year-old has the mental abilities of a second-grader, her mother told investigators.

The 19-year-old wouldn't agree to the prostitution, and Laguna-Guerrero raped her in front of the younger girl, the affidavit states.


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