ST. LOUIS – A woman accused of selling teen girls for sex is wanted tonight, after startling discoveries by prosecutors. The 19-year-old defendant is accused of selling teen girls in St. Louis, who had gone missing in Texas.
In February, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Chantel Robinson with sexual exploitation of a minor and sex trafficking of a child. The office then lost its fight to keep her locked up on the charges in March. But authorities have been watching her, leading to a recent motion to revoke bond, which accuses the defendant of continuing her illegal lifestyle.
Court records say the sex trafficking victims, ages 16 and 17, were sold from a room in the Renaissance Hotel. The girls were rescued by U.S. Marshals and a special regional St. Louis County task force. Investigators discovered the girls had not only been reported missing, but also learned the teens were driven to St. Louis from Texas, where they had been wards of the Texas Department of Children and Family Services.
Robinson was arrested, along with her boyfriend and co-defendant, 23-year-old Joemarius Green, who remains locked up.
A judge allowed 19-year-old Robinson out on bond to go home with her mother in Atlanta.
“The defendant was released over our objections,” St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell said. His office has found court violations ever since.
“It’s troubling to say the least,” Bell said.
A motion to revoke bond claims that since her release, the “…defendant posted ads…advertising sex for money with multiple sexually-explicit photos.”
Prosecutors also claim Robinson, “participated in a text message exchange… with an undercover detective wherein she discussed her fee of $250 for one hour of sexual contact.”
The court record says Robinson used that same phone number to call her co-defendant Green in jail, and that she also failed to enroll in a tracking program that a judge required upon her release.
“Everybody has a right to their day in court,” Bell said. “We just think this individual should have to stay in the (St. Louis County) Justice Center until that time.”
Prosecutors filed their motion to revoke Robinson’s bond with the court and have a hearing date next week to try to convince the judge to sign off.