Howard County Police Charge Three People With Human Trafficking

Howard County police have charged three people with human trafficking in two separate cases.

In both cases, the people charged with human trafficking used the website Backpage.com to solicit customers and used force to make their victims comply, authorities said.

The first case was brought to Howard County police on Oct. 3, when a 24-year-old woman had sought assistance at a Sykesville fire station for assault. The woman suffered injuries on her face and neck but did not require medical treatment.

The woman identified 32-year-old Craig Okeido Anderson as her “pimp,” reporting that for two years he had assaulted her regularly and forced her to perform sex acts with men in various states for money that she would turn over directly to him, authorities said. She also reported that Anderson engaged at least two other women in the same activity.

Police located Anderson at a hotel In Anne Arundel County and arrested him at a traffic stop, authorities said. Police found an assault rifle and loaded magazine concealed in the lining of the trunk.

Anderson is being held at the Howard County Detention Center on a $75,000 bond, and is facing numerous charges of human trafficking, prostitution and assault. Additional charges are pending.

The second case was opened Oct. 4 when a 24-year-old woman reported to Howard County police that she had been kidnapped by a man and woman three days earlier in Rhode Island.

Local

Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information

GMU cricket stadium proposal scrapped

Nationals place Stephen Strasburg on 60-day injured list

The man and woman, identified as Rhode Island residents Gary Eugene Maddox, 29, and Amina R. Philip, 27, had befriended the victim and offered her money to help them sell various items, authorities said. She had agreed, but when she got into their car, they drove her to Connecticut.

Maddox reportedly threatened to harm or kill the victim if she refused to have sex with customers for money, authorities said. Philip took photos of the woman and posted them in ads on Backpage.com. The woman was forced to have sex with men in various states and turn the money over to Maddox and Phillip, authorities.

Police officers located Philip and Maddox in the Elkridge area and arrested the two of them, charging them with multiple human trafficking and prostitution offenses. Maddox was also charged with kidnapping.

Philip and Maddox are being held at the Howard County Detention Center. Philip is on a $750,00 bond, and Maddox is on a $1 million bond. 

Contact Us