A scam lured models and actresses to South Florida to participate in promised roles. When the women got there, a pair of men drugged them and sexually assaulted them-on video. Details after the jump.
Emma Rabid
The women were promised fame and fortune if they travelled to South Florida. After reading enticements on the Internet, one victim was told she would be the face of a new Bacardi drink. Another was told she would get a role in a Paramount film.
But it was all a scam, federal prosecutors say, and instead of riches, the women were drugged, sexually assaulted and filmed. The sex tapes were then sold over the Internet by Miami Vibes Enterprises, a Miramar company that produces pornography, prosecutors say.
On Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami announced a 22-count indictment naming Lavont Flanders, Jr., 40, of Miami Gardens, and Emerson Callum, 45, of Miami, as the men who carried out the scheme. They were charged with conspiracy, human trafficking and distribution of Xanax involving nine victims from May 2006 to February 2011.
The indictment was the culmination of a lengthy investigation that started with Flanders’ arrest in July 2007 by Miramar police. Callum was arrested in September 2007 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
According to the indictment, as early as May 2006, Flanders — an ex-Miami Beach police officer who drove buses for the Miami-Dade Transit Agency when he was arrested — posed as a talent scout or business representative on sites such as ModelMayhem.com and Blackplanet.com. He would entice women to travel to South Florida for auditions, and offer them potentially lucrative acting or modeling contracts, the indictment says.
The men worked together at least nine times, with Flanders communicating with the women online and later meeting them in South Florida. Flanders is accused of giving the women spiked drinks as part of the audition. Callum is accused of having sex with the doped-up women, while Flanders filmed the assaults, the indictment states.
Afterward, Callum sold the videotaped sex as pornography, according to the charges.
The pair did not pay the women for the filming of the sessions.
The incidents happened at the Miami Vibes offices, 3590 S. State Road 7, in Miramar. The defendants made their first court appearance Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted E. Bandstra. They could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
