A five-count indictment was filed charging three people from Ashland,
Ohio, with engaging in a labor trafficking conspiracy and related crimes
for holding a woman with cognitive disabilities and her child against
their will and forcing the woman to perform manual labor for them, law
enforcement officials said today.
According to the indictment, Jordie L. Callahan, 26, Jessica L. Hunt,
31, and Dezerah L. Silsby, 21, used a combination of violence, threats,
sexual assaults, humiliation and monitoring to establish and continue a
pattern of domination and control over their victims, identified only as
S.E. and her child B.E. A fourth person, Daniel K. Brown, 33, of
Ashland, was charged in a criminal information filed today with one
count of conspiracy.
The conspiracy between Callahan, Hunt, Silsby and Brown took place between August 2010 and October 2012. The
object of the conspiracy included holding S.E. in a condition of forced
labor and involuntary servitude; obtaining S.E.’s and B.E.’s public
assistance benefits; and intentionally causing painful injuries to S.E.
so they could use the narcotic pain medications she was prescribed.
According to court documents, the defendants’ tactics included beating
S.E., threats of beatings to S.E. and B.E., taunting and threatening the
victims with pit bulls and snakes, causing the victims to sleep in
unsafe and unsanitary conditions, restricting S.E. and B.E.’s access to
the bathroom, preventing them from eating regular and suitable meals and
forcing S.E. to eat dog food and crawl on the floor while wearing a dog
collar.
Callahan and Hunt recruited S.E. and B.E. to live with them in their
two-bedroom apartment in Ashland, knowing that S.E. has a cognitive
disability and that S.E. and B.E. received monthly public assistance
payments.
According to the indictment, in or around September 2010, Callahan and
Hunt forced S.E. to have her and B.E.’s public assistance benefits
issued on a debit card rather than paper check. They then took control
of the card, forced S.E. to give them the PIN and used the card for
their own benefit and the benefit of their family and friends.
On multiple occasions between August 2010 and October 2012, Callahan and
Hunt threatened S.E. and B.E. with serious physical harm, including
death, if S.E. did not clean up the apartment, care for their numerous
pit bull dogs, snakes and other reptiles, purchase items at the store
and perform other labor and services. On one occasion, Callahan pointed
a firearm at S.E.’s head and threatened to kill her if she did not
perform the labor and services he and other conspirators commanded.
Callahan also forced S.E. on multiple occasions to engage in sex acts
with him and threatened that he and Hunt would kill S.E. if she told
anyone about the forced sexual acts .
In August 2011, Silsby, at the direction of Callahan and Hunt, smashed
S.E.’s hand with a rock with such force that S.E. needed to go to the
hospital emergency room. In December 2011, Callahan and Hunt injured
S.E.’s back with such force that she needed medical treatment. In March
2012, Callahan kicked S.E. in the hip with such force that she needed
medical treatment. After each incident, Callahan and Hunt forced S.E.
to give them the narcotic pain pills and prescriptions for the
medication as stated in the indictment.
Callahan and Hunt used a video camera to monitor S.E. and B.E.’s
activities and conversations in the apartment. They often forced S.E.
to walk to the store to buy groceries, cigarettes, dog food and other
items for Callahan, Hunt and Hunt’s four sons and to pay for these
purchases with her public assistance card. They allotted S.E. only a
brief time period to complete the shopping and warned her that she was
not allowed to speak with anyone while she was out. They frequently
required B.E. to remain with them at the apartment while S.E. was out
and threatened physical harm to B.E. and S.E. if S.E. broke any of their
rules.
The indictment also states that Callahan and Hunt threatened to contact
Ashland County Job and Family Services and have B.E. taken away if S.E.
purchased any items at the store other than those they ordered or if
she told anyone about their unlawful conduct.
In June 2011, after S.E. and B.E. had attempted to flee the apartment,
Callahan and Hunt ordered Brown and Silsby to find S.E. and B.E. and
bring them back to the apartment. Brown and Silsby lured S.E. and B.E.
into their vehicle by promising to take them to Dairy Queen, only to
drive them afterwards back to the apartment.
On multiple occasions, Callahan and Brown locked S.E. and B.E. in a room
with a window that was nailed shut and a door that had been locked from
the outside according to court documents.
As stated in the indictment, in October 2011, Callahan and Hunt forced
S.E. to hit her child while they recorded a video, and threatened to
inflict much greater physical harm on both S.E. and B.E. if S.E. did not
comply. One month later, Callahan and Hunt again forced S.E. to strike
B.E. while they captured a video recording of the staged incident on
Callahan’s cell phone. Callahan and Hunt repeatedly threatened have
B.E. taken away by showing the videos to authorities in order to secure
S.E.’s compliance to the conspirators’ commands.
Callahan, Hunt and Silsby face one count each of the following:
conspiracy; forced labor; theft of government benefits; and acquiring a
controlled substance by deception. Callahan and Hunt face an additional
charge of tampering with a witness.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chelsea Rice
and Thomas E. Getz and Trial Attorney Victor Boutros of the Civil Rights
Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, following an
investigation by the FBI and Ashland Police Department, with assistance
from the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A
defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the
government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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