Ex-prostitute testifies in sex trafficking trial

He told her she was beautiful and had a future as a model. He said that at just 17, she was already his "top-notch bitch."

In a federal courtroom Tuesday, the former prostitute, now 21, barely glanced at the pimp she knew as Casino, describing for jurors how he kept her in line by preaching loyalty, coaxing her ego and preying on her vulnerabilities.

"He made me feel good," the woman, whose first name is Kaitlin, testified in a soft but confident voice. "It made me feel like I was important. That somebody needed me."

Sitting a few feet away in a gray sweater and black eyeglasses, McKenzie "Casino" Carson frowned as he scribbled notes on a yellow legal pad.

Kaitlin, whom the Tribune is not identifying because she was underage at the time, was the first of Carson's four alleged victims who will testify at his trial on four counts of sex trafficking. Prosecutors painted Carson as a "master manipulator" who used everything from sweet talk to threats and beatings to coerce runaways and drug addicts into lives of prostitution.

Once he had the women under his thumb, Carson essentially ran their lives, posting sex ads on the Internet and keeping them in dingy suburban motels, prosecutors said. Carson then kept all or a portion of the proceeds for himself.

When the women got out of line, Carson would whip them with a belt and rape them while the others were forced to watch, prosecutors said. Jurors are expected to view explicit photos of the abuse seized from Carson's phone and computer as well as detailed diary entries the victims were forced to make listing the men they had sex with and how much they were paid.

In her opening statement Monday, Carson's attorney, Ellen Domph, urged jurors to put aside any disgust they might feel over the graphic evidence and focus on whether the prosecution proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. She said the alleged victims — most of whom are drug addicts with criminal records of their own — were "smart and wily and know how to get what they want."

"They lie about everything," Domph said. "The evidence will show some of them made their living by lying."

In her testimony, Kaitlin said she was introduced to Carson in a Joliet motel in late 2009 by a mutual friend who said Carson was looking for women who wanted to make some extra money modeling. Twisting in the witness chair with bright pink hair, Kaitlin broke down as she testified how Carson brought her into a bathroom and told her she had to show him what she could do, then forced her to engage in sex.

Over the next several months, Kaitlin worked under the name "Amber" on and off for Carson, who moved operations from motel to motel to keep a step ahead of police.

Kaitlin said Carson knew she was underage, even asking her to produce her ID to prove it.

"He said it was all right, we'd just have to keep it under the radar until I turned 18," she said.

Carson is the latest in a string of alleged street pimps to be charged in federal court. Several have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Source: Chicago Tribune