Houston woman who pleaded guilty to human trafficking gets 50 years in prison

Marilyn Joy Wilkes pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under the age of 17, human trafficking and compelling prostitution.

A Houston woman who forced a 16-year-old girl into prostitution for a month was sentenced to 50 years in prison, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

Marilyn Joy Wilkes, 27, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under the age of 17, human trafficking and compelling prostitution.

“Only a true predator would force a minor to become a streetwalker,” Ogg said. “Someone who steals a child’s youth by brutally coercing them to have sex with strangers for their own profit, like in this case, deserves to spend time in prison.”

The district attorney’s office says that during the month-long crime spree over the Christmas holidays in 2018, Wilkes "had sex with the juvenile, forced her to solicit strangers on the street in southwest Houston, made her see 'johns' in a motel room on 1960 and go to strangers’ homes for sex."

According to the district attorney’s office, Wilkes would punch her in the face, burn her with cigarettes and stomp on her head if she refused to work – even breaking her finger and ribs once because she didn’t meet a $600/day quota.

The district attorney’s office says Wilkes used the money to pay for the motel and buy food, alcohol and drugs.

Officials say the teen was able to escape by using a stranger’s phone to call her mom.

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