BELLEVUE, Wash. — Warning: This story contains upsetting details about sex abuse and trafficking of children.
A Federal Way man who is accused of trafficking two girls from Oregon, 11 and 15 years old, after messaging them on Instagram and Snapchat has pleaded not guilty.
The man, identified as Ezra Wimana in court documents, was charged with two counts of second-degree human trafficking, third-degree rape of a child, and two counts of promoting commercial sex abuse of a minor. He is being held on $500,000 bail after the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office argued that he would likely commit another offense against children if he was released.
Wimana pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday.
Wimana is accused of sexually assaulting one of the girls, allowing three of his friends to sexually assault the other girl, and taking both girls to Aurora Avenue in Seattle in an attempt to force them to engage in prostitution. Wimana left the girls there after he became "dissatisfied with their performance," according to a Bellevue Police Department press release.
On Jan. 9, the Bellevue Police Department was contacted by a corporal with the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office in Oregon who was requesting a welfare check at a Bellevue address. The girls, who had been reported missing from their homes in Pendleton, Oregon, were showing up at that location on a Snapchat map.
When a detective and two patrol officers went to the house, they found both girls there. The girls were taken to the Bellevue police station and interviewed by detectives.
The 15-year-old told detectives that she had communicated with Wimana, whom she called "Sleez," on Instagram for one to two days before he came and picked her and her friend up from Pendleton. She believed he was 17 or 18 years old. Wimana is 25.
Wimana allegedly took the girls to his apartment in Federal Way where he sexually assaulted the 15-year-old, and three others assaulted the 11-year-old. The girl told detectives that they were smoking weed and drinking alcohol.
A few days later, Wimana took both girls to Aurora Avenue and told them to wave and gesture at cars in an attempt to "entice prospective sex buyers," according to probable cause documents. The 15-year-old told detectives that she and her friend walked along Aurora for an hour and a half, and several men approached her and her friend with interest, but they ended up being too scared to get in anyone's car. Wimana allegedly checked in with the girls and upon learning that they hadn't made any money, abandoned them on Aurora Avenue and discontinued communication, according to court documents.
The girl told detectives that Wimana had spoken with her about engaging in sex work, saying they could make a lot of money and that it "would be worth it."
The girl was able to provide detectives with pictures of Wimana.
Text messages received via warrants to cellphone service providers further confirmed that Wimana had traveled from Washington to Oregon to pick the girls up.
When Wimana was arrested, he initially denied knowing the girls or ever having spoken with them. He eventually changed his story and said instead that he believed the girls to be 18. Wimana said the girls were the ones who asked to be taken to Aurora Avenue. He initially claimed he had never been there and did not know the significance of that street. Wimana eventually admitted he was aware it was a hotspot for sex trafficking but said because he believed the girls were 18, he thought it was OK. Wimana admitted to a detective that hadn't seen any legal identification from either of the girls or had any other way of verifying they were legal adults.
During the interview, Wimana admitted that he had been in contact with the girls as recently as the week of his arrest.
Bellevue police said even though Wimana was arrested and charged the investigation is far from over.
“Our investigators are still looking at the other two suspects that were involved in assaulting these girls in Federal Way, as well as working with the suspect Mr. Wimana on his scheme to bring them to Washington. There’s a potential for additional arrests and additional charges,” said Officer Seth Tyler, spokesperson for the Bellevue Police Department.
Police are also looking into the involvement of the Bellevue homeowner where the girls were found.
“It turns out that they apparently had just met a stranger on the street in Seattle that offered to bring them to Bellevue and let them stay at his residence. We're looking into that individual, his involvement in this case, but at this time, it doesn't appear that he knew the original suspect,” Tyler said.
Wimana was formerly a part-time library page with the King County Library System. The library system issued a statement saying they were aware someone with the same name and birthdate of their former employee was arrested and that they were saddened to hear about what happened to the girls. The statement went on to say:
"We are continuing to monitor the situation but have not received information about any claims of related incidents taking place at a library. We are committed to providing a safe environment for all our employees and patrons. We conduct background checks on all our employees and train them to address inappropriate conduct we observe in our libraries. KCLS libraries are designated as a Safe Place."
“We find, unfortunately, sex traffickers and sex buyers work in any industry,” said Kirsten Foot, executive director of Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking.
Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking or BEST works to train employers about sex trafficking and to spot the signs.
“That would be signs of confusion, signs of injury, signs of distress, somebody's not knowing where they are, why they're there. Does the minor seem to know who they're with? Does the minor seem to trust the person they're with? If not, those are indicators that need to be looked into,” said Foot.
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If you or someone you know has been forced to labor or engage in sex work, you can call the National Human Trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text "BeFree" to 233733. Find more resources on the Washington State Department of Commerce website.