Mother And Son Trafficked 13-Year-Olds Nabbed Off The Street: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Compton woman and her adult son were indicted on federal charges for forcing two teenagers to engage in sexual activity for money, prosecutors announced this week.

According to court records, the children were walking down the street together in Bell Gardens when a van with three men inside pulled up and ordered the teens to get in. The children were forced into sex acts and trafficked at locations around Los Angeles County to avoid detection after missing persons posts were circulated online to find the children, according to court records.

A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Daisy Pollard-Gilliam, 41, also known as “Queen,” and her son, Reuben Gilliam, 24, also known as “Tre," on allegations that they forced two children to perform sex acts for money. The Compton pair are charged with one conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of sex trafficking of a minor. Reuben Gilliam also is charged with one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography. Daisy Pollard-Gilliam also is charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to prosecutors, the two 13-year-old alleged victims in the case were walking in Bell Gardens around 2 a.m. June 3, 2023, when a vehicle containing Gilliam and two other men pulled alongside them. They allegedly ordered the teens to get in and took them to a home in Lynwood.

"Throughout the next week, both victims were required to engage in sexual activity with Reuben Gilliam, Daisy Pollard-Gilliam and unidentified commercial sex customers to make money," the indictment alleges, according to the Justice Department. "The customers told one victim that they paid $100 to have sexual intercourse with her and the defendants collected the cash after the customer had sex with the victims, according to court documents. The defendants allegedly also directed the victims to dress in lingerie and pose for pictures to be used to advertise commercial sex."

After spending a few nights at the Lynwood home, the traffickers saw missing children’s flyers in circulation on social media – identifying both victims as 13 years old – seeking the minor victims’ whereabouts, according to prosecutors.

The victims were then transferred to different locations in Los Angeles County until June 9 when law enforcement officials rescued the victims from a recreational vehicle in Gardena.

Pollard-Gilliam also allegedly distributed photos and videos of the victims to an inmate and Kern Valley State Prison, prosecutors said, while Reuben Gilliam allegedly communicated on Instagram with other users about his trafficking of the two victims.

The weapons charge against Pollard-Gilliam stems from April of this year, when she allegedly possessed a semi-automatic pistol and 25 rounds of ammunition, despite being prohibited from doing so due to a 2021 conviction for child abandonment.

Both defendants face possible life prison sentences if convicted as charged, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Any member of the public who has information related to child sex crimes is encouraged to call the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or report tips online at https://tips.fbi.gov

City News Service contributed to this report.