Waterloo couple charged in federal court with sex trafficking children

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Waterloo couple, charged in state court last year for bringing two Chicago teens to Iowa for prostitution, were charged Tuesday in federal court with sex trafficking.

Lawrence Edward Campbell Jr., 35, and his wife Sade Campbell, also known as Sade VanArsdale, 24, were indicted earlier this month and each made initial appearances Tuesday in U.S. District Court on one count of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion.

U.S. Magistrate Kelly Mahoney, who presided by video from Sioux City, ordered the couple to be placed in custody pending further proceedings.

The two lawyers for Lawrence Campbell Jr. and Sade Campbell asked the court to set detention hearings, which will be May 18.

Mahoney also set trial dates for both on July 17.           

Court documents filed in Black Hawk County District Court last year show Lawrence Campbell Jr. met two 16-year-old girls from Chicago online and promised them a 'better life' in Iowa. He purchased bus tickets to Waterloo for them and took them to his home to live. The girls were then told they would have to have sex with men for money and steal items from local stores that could be resold on the streets.    

Police discovered the trafficking when the teens were arrested by Waterloo police for stealing candy at a Target store on Aug. 29, 2016, a search warrant affidavit shows. While officers were checking for possible warrants on the girls, one was listed in a national database as a missing person out of Chicago. One of the girls also had a one-year-old daughter, who came with them on the bus Aug. 25.

Photos were taken of the teens and uploaded to a site advertising escort services, court documents show. The teens described three sexual encounters they had for money but said they never received the money. They said Sade Campbell collected the money.

The teens were then told they were not 'earning their keep' and Sade Campbell took them to the mall to steal items to sell, the affidavit shows. One of the girls said they stole perfume, lingerie and clothing. They stole candy from Target that day because they were hungry, the girls told police.

Waterloo officers searched Lawrence Campbell's home and found bus ticket stubs, clothing stolen from stores and outfits the girls wore in online ads, court documents show. Police also obtained a search warrant for the Campbell's phones. 

Sade Campbell was arrested in an April 2015 prostitution sting, according to Black Hawk County court records. She pleaded guilty last October and received a deferred judgment with probation.

Lawrence Campbell has previous convictions for drugs, burglary and assault, Black Hawk County court records show.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com