Victim testifies in Lake in the Hills teenage pimping case
The case against two women accused of pimping out a 14-year-old from Kansas was dealt a setback Wednesday when a McHenry County judge threw out a host of child pornography charges.
“They are explicit. They are crass,” said Judge Joseph Condon, adding that he did not believe racy photos posted on an Internet ad could be defined as “lewd beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Kari Knox, 37, and Antwanette Atkins, 44, both of Lake in the Hills, still face the two most serious charges: juvenile pimping and involuntary servitude of a minor.
If convicted, they face a top penalty of 30 years in prison and a minimum of six.
A third defendant, Donald R. Jones, 53, of Lake in the Hills, faces the same accusations and will stand trial separately.
The teen, who authorities say was forced into prostitution in Lake in the Hills, testified Wednesday she had sex with a two men Dec. 31, 2009, but later felt “degraded” and took a bus back home the next day.
“Have you ever done something like that before, sold yourself for money?” McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Blackney asked the teen, who is 16 now.
“No,” she replied.
The girl testified Wednesday that Jones — who she met on myspace.com in fall 2009 — picked her up in Wichita a few days before Dec. 31, 2009. They stayed in a hotel room for a few days, smoked marijuana and went to a Walmart to buy clothes, heels and underwear for a provocative photo shoot that was later posted online to attract clients.
The girl also testified that Jones bought her a prepaid phone and she was put “on call” when they got to Illinois. She testified she was driven to two homes and had sex for $500.
One man wanted extra time, for which the girl charged $100 and secretly kept for herself when she turned over $400 to Jones.
The girl, who wanted to leave Kansas because she was unhappy, testified that Knox drove her to clients’ homes and posted the racy ad on the Internet.
The teen also testified that Atkins told her what to do, how to act and answered the prepaid phone when it rang.
Under cross examination by Knox’s attorney, Special Assistant Public Defender Bill Bligh, the girl said she never told anyone she was 14 because “the topic never came up.”
Bligh also worked to paint Jones as the mastermind of the operation, stressing that Jones and another man picked up the girl in Kansas and she had only spent one day with Atkins and Knox. Bligh also noted the girl had more than 10 tattoos and a pierced tongue at the time of the incident.
Closing arguments in the jury trial in Woodstock are expected Thursday morning.