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Des Moines Man Given Life Sentence For Trafficking Homeless Women

Courtesy of the Des Moines Register

A Des Moines man was sentenced to life in prison for the sex trafficking of “young homeless women struggling with drug addiction” and other charges related to the scheme.

Dave Shumpert III, 30, was found guilty by a jury in June of three counts of trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, obstruction of a sex trafficking prosecution, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance to a person under 21, conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

Shumpert was sentenced to life in prison in federal court on Sept. 22, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Iowa. He faced up to a life term, with a 15-year minimum sentence.

“This sentence reflects the violent and reprehensible acts of coercion this defendant used to exploit the victims for his own personal profit,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department said in the release. “Human traffickers use people like disposable products for an illegal business and violate them in endless ways when doing so.”

Shumpert, as well as co-defendant Haley Morrison, 30, of Des Moines, “targeted vulnerable young homeless women struggling with drug addiction, provided them with shelter and drugs, and then used violence and other coercive means to compel the women to engage in commercial sex,” according to the release.

Three women were coerced by Shumpert and Morrison “to perform commercial sex acts using a combination of physical force, threats of force, a coercive debt scheme, withholding of drugs, and other threats of harm,” the release said.

“The defendant preyed on three vulnerable young women, profited from their exploitation — even while incarcerated — and attempted to intimidate and threaten a government witness,” U.S. Attorney David C. Waterman for the Southern Districtof Iowa said in the release.

The two advertised the women online and set prices and planned the commercial sex acts, including renting hotel rooms, according to the release. The two kept most of the proceeds from the scheme. Shumpert also directed Morrison on how to manage the victims.

“One of the victims testified about the physical violence Morrison employed, such as hitting a victim with closed fists and dragging her by the hair,” the release said. “The victims explained their fear of homelessness, drug withdrawal, and of being indebted to Shumpert.”

Shumpert, even after being arrested for the sex trafficking scheme, had thousands of calls with Morrison to “discuss his criminal commercial sex business, and even received over $32,000 on his commissary accounts from the victims’ commercial sex proceeds,” according to the release.

Morrison pled guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion in November 2025 and was sentenced in August 2026 to 14.5 years in prison.

“I commend the extraordinary courage of the victims who testified against him, “Waterman said.

Undercover Trafficking Sting Operation Nets Four Suspects in Waterloo

Waterloo police arrested four people during a multi-state operation targeting human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children.

According to a September 11 news release, the operation, called Operation Coast to Coast, involved hundreds of law enforcement agencies across dozens of states. Detectives from the Waterloo Police Department worked with the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Office to Combat Human Trafficking Task Force to identify people trying to buy commercial sex and those exploiting vulnerable individuals, including children.

In Black Hawk County, officers ran undercover investigations using online accounts and undercover officers at several locations. The effort led to four arrests on charges related to buying commercial sex, enticing minors, and grooming.

James Richard Grant Sr., 52, was arrested on charges of soliciting a commercial sexual act, prostitution involving someone under 18, enticing a person under 16 for sexual abuse and grooming. Olivind Christopher Eichenberger, 34, was arrested on a charge of buying services for prostitution.

Fermin Miranda-Del Valle, 55, was arrested on a charge of enticing a person under 16 for sexual abuse. Officers determined Miranda-Del Valle was undocumented, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on him after his arrest.

Michael Levi Koch, 42, was arrested on charges of buying services for prostitution, enticing a person under 16 for sexual abuse, soliciting a commercial sexual act, grooming and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Along with Waterloo Police, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI Task Force were all involved. The investigation is ongoing.

Five Omaha Men Charged With Sex Trafficking of Minors

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that a three-day undercover operation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) resulted in the arrest and indictment of five men in Omaha, Nebraska, last week. The defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska with the following charges:

  • Jocsan Aparicio-Santos, 39, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Penalties for Registered Sex Offenders.
  • Logan Trigg, 29, of Omaha, was charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Penalties for Registered Sex Offenders.
  • Bryan E. Dady, 48, of Omaha, was charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Penalties for Registered Sex Offenders.
  • Tillian Hutton, 25, of Omaha, was charged with was charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child.
  • Law Eh, 39, of Omaha, was charged with was charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Possession of Child Pornography.

The possible penalties for Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child is a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release of five years to life, and a special assessment of $5,000. The penalties for the charge of Penalties for Registered Sex Offenders are 10 years’ consecutive to the underlying sentence. The maximum possible penalties for Possession of Child Pornography are 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release of five years to life, and special assessments totaling of $26,928.

Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

From August 12 to August 14, the operation utilized online advertisements about sexual acts for sale. Investigators acting in an undercover capacity communicated with interested individuals seeking sex acts with minors.  The subjects charged in the operation showed up to an agreed upon location to allegedly engage in sexual acts with a 14-year-old. Investigators encountered dozens of additional individuals who communicated about sexually exploiting minors. However, these individuals did not appear in person.

These cases are under investigation by HSI. The following agencies assisted HSI with this operation: HSI Denver, Kansas City, Wichita, and Sioux City; the Omaha Police Department; the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

A Sobering Reminder: Human Trafficking Is a National Security Threat

Courtesy of Teresa Davidson, Vice Chair of NAHT and CEO of Chains Interrupted

July 30, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, was a day I will not soon forget. I had the privilege of being invited to the Pentagon to attend a national summit focused on human trafficking as a national security threat. Walking into the Pentagon on a day dedicated to bringing awareness to human trafficking was a powerful experience. I found myself thinking about the countless victims whose stories brought all of us to that room—and about how much work remains to be done.

For years, I have worked alongside survivors, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, educators, government leaders, and others who understand the devastating impact trafficking has on individuals and families. But sitting at the Pentagon and hearing trafficking discussed through the lens of national security gave me an even broader perspective. Human trafficking is not simply an issue affecting vulnerable individuals. It is a highly profitable criminal enterprise that crosses borders, fuels other criminal activity, exploits human beings, and can intersect with organized crime and threats to the security of our nation.

What struck me most was the realization that the work we are doing in Iowa is part of something much bigger. Every survivor we help, every young person we educate, every professional we train, every trafficking case identified, and every policy we help strengthen contributes to a larger effort to protect our communities and our country. I was honored to represent Iowa at this important summit and grateful to bring these conversations home.

World Day Against Trafficking calls us to remember the people who have been exploited. My day at the Pentagon reminded me that our response must be just as big as the threat. We have a responsibility—not only to pursue freedom and justice for survivors, but to recognize that

protecting people from exploitation is also an important part of protecting our nation.

November 1 Deadline for Award Nominations

On Thursday, January 21, 2027, Iowa’s newly elected Governor and the NAHT will present the Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards to individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to ending human trafficking and slavery through coalition building, service to survivors, law enforcement and prosecution, rescue of victims, raising awareness, education, public policy prevention, and advocacy.

This award recognizes and honors those who have made outstanding contributions to ending trafficking in Iowa by:

  • Educating and training the public and schools
  • Rescuing, uncovering, or investigating trafficking
  • Working for anti-trafficking public policy and legislation
  • Prosecuting traffickers
  • Leading efforts to establish or expand services to survivors
  • Demonstrating cooperation and collaboration between organizations and agencies
  • Demonstrating advocacy for the prevention of trafficking
  • Serving as spokespersons or advocates

We invite you to submit a nomination by completing this form and emailing it here by November 1.

To access a list of past awardees, tap here.

Please Donate to the NAHT on Giving Tuesday

December 1 is Giving Tuesday, and our once-a-year solicitation of our blog/newsletter supporters. This year’s campaign launched on September 1 and ends in December. Our 2026 Giving Tuesday campaign theme is “Round Up for Freedom – End Trafficking Now.”

This year on the global day of giving, we’re hoping to raise $5,000. Money will be used to help the NAHT highlight the issue of human trafficking during the celebration of January 2027 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month.

Ways you can get ready for Giving Tuesday:

  • Share our Giving Tuesday campaign with your family and friends. Invite them to join the cause, too
  • Donate using the Giving Tuesday QR code
  • Donate online here
  • Donate by mailing a check to the Iowa NAHT at 5508 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014

New Law Designed to Reach Trafficking Victims at Highway Rest Stops

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a new mandate that human trafficking resource signs must be placed inside of all Illinois roadside rest areas. The Illinois Department of Transportation has until January 1 to install the signs in the restrooms.

Iowa does not have a mandate similar to Illinois, however, for the past ten years, the law enforcement section of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has been placing the NAHT hotline stickers in the restrooms of all Iowa rest areas. The posting of NAHT stickers ceased when the DOT law enforcement officers were transferred and merged into the Department of Public Safety. In addition, the DOT anti-trafficking and information website disappeared in 2025. The Iowa State Patrol hosted nine public training sessions in 2024 to help identify human trafficking victims and hosted zero law enforcement sessions in 2025.

While Illinois law already mandates that rest areas contain human trafficking resource signs, the new law specifically orders them placed in restrooms. Supporters say that’s significant because often, using public restrooms is the only time that victims can move themselves away from their abusers. The goal is for the victims to be able to see the information and know how to get help without being watched.

According to IDOT, roadside rest stops and truck stops are a frequent point of human trafficking. This is because they are spread across the country and, in many instances, rural places that are convenient for traffickers to access and utilize without getting caught. The new law hopes to turn these frequently visited locations into places where victims can obtain help.

A sign in a restroom may seem like a small measure, but for someone being closely watched and controlled, that private moment may be one of their only opportunities to see a hotline number and safely ask for help. By placing these signs in restrooms at every Illinois highway rest area, we can extend that lifeline to more people across our state.

For more details, please tap here.

Meta Settlement Means Children Will Not So Easily Fall Into Contact With Traffickers

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook and Meta founder

Meta has just agreed to a $17.1 billion settlement over claims from 47 state Attorneys General that the company intentionally addicted and harmed children, while misleading the public about the safety of its products. Even better, the settlement comes with injunctive relief—that is, a list of changes Meta must implement to make its platforms safer for American children!

This is an incredible victory, building on the nationwide momentum in litigation against social media companies. If this settlement is approved by the court, it will be the largest payout that has so far resulted from the thousands of lawsuits Meta is currently facing.

For decades, Big Tech has been the only industry in America that did not need to fear liability when it was designing harmful products. That age of impunity is coming to a close.

Just like any other industry, Big Tech must now consider whether the profit of harmful design features is worth potentially billions of dollars in liability costs. That is a great thing which will lead to safer and more beneficial platforms for kids.

The injunctive relief from the settlement lays out several changes Meta must make to reduce harm to minors in the US. To read all four Meta requirements, tap here.

Trump Administration Promised a Sex-Trafficking Crackdown. Justice Department Hasn’t Delivered

Courtesy of Reuters

The Trump administration has repeatedly said the fight against sex trafficking is one of its top priorities. But investigations have stalled and prosecutions declined in the past six months because of staffing shortages, funding cuts, immigration enforcement and growing distrust of the government among victims, according to Reuters interviews with 25 former prosecutors, current agents and victims’ advocates, and a review of federal court records.

“You can’t say ​something is a priority and then not provide the resources to make that happen,” said Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in New York who led the prosecution of rapper and actor Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was accused of sex trafficking and was convicted last year on two counts of transportation for prostitution.

Federal sex-trafficking ‌charges have dropped this year to the slowest pace since 2010. The Justice Department charged 73 people through June, about 22% lower than the number of people charged during the first half of the past three years, court records show.

These drops reflect a larger shift in federal law enforcement priorities under President Donald Trump, who has slashed agency budgets and mandated a focus on deportations. People charged with crimes unrelated to immigration – everything from tax evasion to drug trafficking – dropped 7% through June to about 22,000, according to the court records.

The findings come just as Congress has confirmed Trump nominee Todd Blanche as ​Attorney General in a 50-to-49 vote with two Republicans defecting. His candidacy faced a bipartisan backlash over the handling of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a transfer to a minimum-security prison granted to his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, shortly after Blanche personally interviewed her.

Blanche recently told Congress combating human trafficking “remains a department priority given the ​gravity of the harm it causes.” The administration also appointed a new national coordinator for child exploitation and human trafficking, Alessandra Serano, a career prosecutor.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Katherine Currie declined to comment on the Reuters review of sex-trafficking cases. She said in a statement that the department is committed to both immigration and sex-crimes enforcement and touted its “unwavering dedication ​to dismantling human-trafficking networks.”

For more information on how agents pulled away and seasoned prosecutors are now gone, tap here.

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By on October 1, 2026   /   News