OCALA, Fla. (WTXL) — Seven people are behind bars, accused of operating a human trafficking ring in Florida involving a Marion County teen who investigators say was used as a "sex slave."
St. Petersburg police say six men and a woman have been arrested after an 8-month long investigation.
The investigation began on May 9, 2018, when a Louisiana law enforcement agency contacted the St. Petersburg Police Department with information that a missing 17-year-old boy from Louisiana was at a mobile home in St. Petersburg.
Investigators believe the victim was lured through Discord, an online gaming app that allows users to communicate directly with each other.
When they arrived at the mobile home, they found the missing teen and another 16-year-old boy living in the trailer, along with four adults identified as Mark Earl Dennis, Andrew Barry Dennis, Curtis Lee Gruwell, and Michael Wayne Schwartz.
Police say Mark Dennis claimed to the the 16-year-old's biological father, but had no documentation, so both teens were removed from the home.
Further investigation confirmed that Mar Dennis was not the teen's father. In fact, the teen had gone missing from Marion County 11 months earlier.
Investigators say a woman the boy knew befriended him and introduced him to Mark and Andrew Dennis. In May 2017, the boy's mother found a note from him telling her not to try to find him.
Lured with the promise of a better life, police say the then 15-year-old boy was moved into a "filthy trailer." According to WFTV, the trailer was covered in animal feces.
Over the next year, police say the teen "was introduced to sadomasochism and used as a sex slave by Mark and Andrew Dennis, Gruwell, Schwartz, and their associates Michael Ray Blasdel and JR Gauthier." During that time, the child did not attend school or receive medical care.
After police removed the teens from the trailer in May 2018, they say Mark and Andrew Dennis, Curtis Gruwell and Michael Schwartz moved from St. Petersburg to Lehigh Acres, Lee County.
With the assistance of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, detectives took six of seven suspects into custody on Monday. Tuesday morning, the last remaining suspect turned himself in.
Police say the boy is now receiving special care designed for human trafficking victims.
