Raleigh McClam, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Maryland 2016

Sex Trafficking of a Minor Charges Filed Against Two District Heights Men

A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Raleigh McClam, 36, and Savion Sharpe, 22, both of District Heights, Maryland, with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. The complaint was filed on May 5, 2016, and was unsealed on May 13, 2016, upon the arrest of McClam.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on December 29, 2015, officers with the Montgomery County Police Department received a 911 call from a female stating that she was a prostitute and was in fear of a man who was outside her Rockville motel room. The caller described the man and stated she was staying in room 257. When officers arrived at the motel they saw McClam and Sharpe sitting in a vehicle in the motel parking lot. Sharpe matched the description supplied by the 911 caller.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the female, Victim 1, was 16 years old. During interviews with Victim 1, she told officers that she met Sharpe in December 2015, when he approached her about working for him as a prostitute. Victim 1 stated that McClam was Sharpe’s manager. According to the affidavit, Victim 1 told officers that McClam drove Sharpe, Victim 1 and another woman to the Rockville motel on the evening of December 28, 2015, and had sex with Victim 1 before she saw any customers, as a kind of “test.”

Law enforcement also located multiple online advertisements for prostitution services in the Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland area, associated with an email account allegedly used by McClam. According to the affidavit, McClam also had a social media account. An undercover officer contacted McClam through that account. During their conversations, McClam indicated he ran an escort service in Rockville and elsewhere and had four girls “working for him.”

If convicted, McClam and Sharpe each face a maximum of life in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from 10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan ordered that McClam be detained pending trial. Sharpe is detained on related state charges.

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