USA: Cameroonian charged with human trafficking, prostitution

A Germantown man who runs a soccer academy in Montgomery County, USA, was charged this week with prostitution and human trafficking after an undercover sting at a suburban hotel.

Armand Theinkue Donfack, 35, trafficked a woman from France to work as an escort, advertised her services online and then took a portion of her earnings, according to prosecutors.

Donfack is a soccer coach and the owner of Champions Soccer Academy, which has played at Maryland Soccerplex and Discovery Sports Center, according to the company’s Facebook page.

He was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of human trafficking, one count of operating a business for prostitution and two counts of prostitution, Montgomery County Police said.

“Right now we believe that he was posting advertisements on the Internet, particularly French websites, and recruiting French women to come to the United States for the specific purpose of being an escort,” Ofc. Rick Goodale said.

Police believe Donfack’s alleged crimes had no connection to his soccer business, other than his use of a car with his business’s logo on the side.

Detectives began investigating the possibility of prostitution activity on July 7 after they were tipped off to escort advertisements posted online. According to court documents, the advertisements were listed on backpage.com, a site often used for advertising prostitution using code words.

Detectives emailed the contact listed on the advertisements and arranged a meeting with a female escort at a hotel off I-270, near The Shops at Seneca Meadows, on July 8.

That night, police arrived to the hotel to find Donfack. He walked into the hotel lobby for a brief time and then left in a vehicle. A woman then exited the hotel and approached a plainclothes officer, who then identified herself, police said.

The officer asked the woman about her activities at the hotel. She revealed Donfack as her “boss” and told the officer he took 40 percent of her weekly earnings as a prostitute, police said.

The woman told police she came to the United States in June to work as an escort. According to court documents, the woman spoke very little English.

Detectives traced hotel credit card records to Donfack, police said. He was arrested Monday, appeared in court and was released after he posted $10,000 bond. He faces as much as 21 years in prison and fines of $15,000.