Ex-Greenwich Resident Gets 6-Year Prison Term for Child Sex Trafficking

A former Greenwich resident has been sentenced in federal court to six years in prison for her role in a sex trafficking operation involving minors.

Connecticut's U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly's office announced that Sheena Dume, 23, formerly of Greenwich, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

On Feb. 18, 2015, Dume pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, and five counts of sex trafficking of a minor. She and an accomplice have been in custody since their arrests in Maryland in July 2014.

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According to court documents and statements made in court, Dume assisted a sex trafficking enterprise headed by Wellington Brown, also known as 'Jamal.' As part of the sex trafficking enterprise, Brown and Dume recruited five minors to work as prostitutes. Brown drove expensive vehicles and displayed jewelry and cash to his victims, and lured them with the prospect of making significant amounts of money, according to prosecutors. Brown recruited some victims with the fictitious prospect of a modeling career.

Brown took pictures of the minor victims and used them to advertise prostitution services on websites such as backpage.com. Brown and covered the expenses of the prostitution operation, such as renting hotel rooms, providing transportation and condoms, and buying food for the victims. At times, Brown also provided marijuana to the minor victims.

The investigation revealed that the victims engaged in prostitution at various hotels in Stratford and Milford. The victims provided Brown with tens of thousands of dollars they earned through prostitution and received only a small portion of the money they made.

On March 26, 2015, Brown pleaded guilty to the same six offenses. On Feb. 11, he was sentenced to 126 months of imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Milford and Stratford Police departments and the Connecticut State Police. Daly also acknowledged the work by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and its Human Anti-Trafficking Response Team (HART). Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Novick and Marc Silverman prosecuted the case.

In a statement, Daly encouraged trafficking victims, and anyone who comes in contact with potential victims of trafficking, to call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 888-373-7888. Individuals also can send an email to NHTRC@traffickingresourcecenter.org.
Trafficking victims also are encouraged to send a text message to “BEFREE” to receive an immediate response and help from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.