Sex-Traffickers Exploit Teen at Silver Spring Motel: Police

SILVER SPRING, MD — Two Prince George's County residents face human-trafficking charges for forcing a 15-year-old girl to work as a prostitute in Silver Spring, but police worry that other teens may also be victims of the alleged traffickers.

Montgomery County Police say a 15-year-old girl told detectives in late March that she met Atuan Saran Rogers, 34, and Dierra Victoria Lee Thomas, 19, both of Fort Washington, in October 2015. The teen said that Thomas had approached her in a hotel in Silver Spring and asked her if she “wanted to work.” Thomas introduced the victim to Rogers, who told the girl that she would receive money for having sex with men.

The victim said Rogers advertised her services in an escort section of a classified advertising website. Rogers reportedly denied the teen access to a phone and money, and hit her when she told him that she no longer wanted to work for him.

Detectives confirmed that Rogers rented rooms at a hotel on 13th Street in Silver Spring between Jan. 10 and Jan. 27, 2016. An arrest warrant for Rogers charged him with human trafficking and prostitution offenses. He was arrested on the warrant by the Prince George’s County Police Department on July 29.

Rogers is being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center on an $80,000 bond.

An arrest warrant for Thomas charged her with prostitution offenses and one count of conspiracy to commit human trafficking. She was arrested on the warrant July 11 by the Prince George’s County Police Department, and released on a $5,000 bond.

Detectives are concerned that other juveniles were victims of human trafficking by Rogers and Thomas. Investigators ask anyone with information about the illicit activities to call 240-773-5959.

»Photos of Atuan Saran Rogers and Dierra Victoria Lee Thomas, courtesy of Montgomery County Police