A Fall River woman pleaded guilty on March 31 in federal court in Boston to her role in a sex trafficking conspiracy that involved two minors and one adult. Christy Parker, also known as “Lula,” age 28, admitted guilt to charges including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and one count of sex trafficking a minor. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for July 15.
The case is significant due to the severity of the crimes and the exploitation of vulnerable victims. Authorities say Parker used violence, threats, intimidation, sleep deprivation and starvation between January and August 2023 to force at least one adult victim and two minor victims into repeated commercial sex acts around Fall River.
According to prosecutors, Parker coerced an adult victim through physical abuse, verbal threats and manufactured debts. She also supplied alcohol before withholding it as punishment and threatened the removal of the victim’s child. Later in early 2023, Parker collaborated with a minor to recruit two other minors with false promises of easy money for commercial sex work. The victims were kept at a house and a Somerset hotel over July and August where they were subjected to beatings, threats, sleep deprivation and confiscation of earnings.
Parker’s activities ended when one minor contacted her social worker for help; law enforcement responded quickly after being alerted by the social worker in August 2023. Parker was arrested at the Somerset hotel where she was harboring victims.
Four other defendants have already been convicted in this case: Tyreik Reid and Cory Primo received sentences of 70 months each after pleading guilty last June; Avvani Jeffers and Tre’sean Reid were sentenced earlier this year following their pleas last October. A sixth defendant has pleaded not guilty with trial pending.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said valuable assistance came from multiple agencies including Homeland Security Investigations New England, Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and Somerset Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Riley is prosecuting alongside Trial Attorney Francisco Zornosa from the Justice Department’s Human Rights section.
