February 06, 2016
Two Philadelphia men were found guilty Friday for running a violent sex trafficking scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office says.
Authorities say Kevino Graham, 39, and Raffael Robinson, 30, terrorized young women from May 2009 to August 2014 out of their West Philly brothel, dubbed "Passionate Touch."
According to prosecutors, Graham was the ringleader, performing "sadistic acts of violence" on the victims and forcing them to perform sex acts for money.
He allegedly drummed up business by posting advertisements online and handing out flyers to the community.
A Twitter account, still active as of Saturday afternoon, advertised a West Philadelphia club called Passionate Touch.
The account, which has not tweeted since 2012, boasted the club had "sexy women," and one tweet even reads, "Check out our $20 1 hour special."
Robinson worked security for Graham, also physically harming the women on occasion in order to coerce them.
Two of their co-defendants -- Brian Wright and Renato Teixera -- have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
At the club, Wright would collect the money while Teixera would go out and recruit new women for their "business."
A federal jury found Graham guilty on two counts of sex trafficking by force and one count of attempted sex trafficking by force. Robinson was found guilty on one count of sex trafficking by force.
A sentencing is scheduled for May 26, and both face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison with a possible maximum of life in prison, as well as fines and five years of supervised release.
