Judge sentences Houston woman to 50 years in teen's human trafficking case

Marilyn Joy Wilkes Marilyn Joy Wilkes Photo: Harris County District Attorney's Office Photo: Harris County District Attorney's Office Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Judge sentences Houston woman to 50 years in teen's human trafficking case 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A judge on Thursday sentenced a Houston woman to 50 years in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl and forcing her into prostitution over the 2018 Christmas holiday.

Marilyn Joy Wilkes, 27, pleaded guilty last year to charges of sexual assault of a child under 17, human trafficking and compelling prostitution. Prosecutors accused her of a monthlong pimping operation where she raped the teen, forced her to solicit strangers for sex in southwest Houston and made her see buyers at their homes or in a motel room on F.M. 1960.

When the girl refused to work, Wilkes would retaliate by punching her in the face, burning her with cigarettes and stomping on her head, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The teen had a $600 per day quota, and after failing to meet that on one occasion, Wilkes broke the teen's finger and several ribs, prosecutors said.

Wilkes used that money to pay for a motel, food, alcohol and drugs, charging documents show.

The girl escaped in January 2019 when she asked a stranger -- who was allegedly a prospective sex buyer -- to use his phone to call her mother, police said. Her mother arrived at the man's Spring-area home to pick her up, and they sped off with Wilkes hot on their tail.

The mother and daughter called the police, eventually meeting an officer in the parking lot of a Walmart. Authorities arrested Wilkes more than two months later, according to court records.

Judge Nikita Harmon stacked two 25-year prison sentences for the prostitution and human trafficking charges. Wilkes was also sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for sexual assault, which will run concurrently with the other sentences.

“Only a true predator would force a minor to become a street walker,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a Friday news release. “Someone who steals a child’s youth by brutally coercing them to have sex with strangers for their own profit, like in this case, deserves to spend time in prison.”

Prosecutor Micala Clark argued the case, bringing forward the teen, her mother and a psychologist to testify.

“This was an example of the typical grooming that pimps use to victimize women,” Clark said. “This young woman suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and nightmares at the hands of this predator.”

Defense attorney John Arthur Clark, Jr. declined to comment beyond saying, "it was a tough sentence."