Detroit Man Ran Michigan-To-Massachusetts Sex Ring: Prosecutors

WOBURN, MA — A Detroit man accused of running an underaged prostitution ring from Michigan to Massachusetts has been charged under that state’s new human trafficking law. Melando Yaphet Streety, 34, has been charged in Middlesex Superior Court with multiple felonies related to an operation prosecutors said exploited girls under the age of 18.

Streety is scheduled to appear in court again June 6, when he may change his not-guilty plea. He is being held without bond. Charges have also been filed against a co-defendant, Bryahna Tracey-Bushamie, 20, also of Michigan. Her case is pending.

Each faces two counts each of trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude and deriving support from a minor prostitute. Streety also has been charged with five counts of rape.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has accused Tracey-Bushamie of driving underage prostitutes from Michigan to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a vehicle rented by Streety. Once there, advertisements were placed online for sexual services for a fee in a rented hotel room, and the two defendants collected the money, prosecutors said.

“These are disturbing allegations that the defendants orchestrated a scheme by which they brought two young women from Michigan to Cambridge and forced them to work as prostitutes,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a press release.

Human trafficking is an estimated $32 billion annual industry, Ryan said.

Cambridge (Massachusetts) Patch has more on this story.

Photo of Melando Yephet Streety by Lisa Redmond/Patch