NEW ORLEANS, La. (KNOE) – U.S. Marshals say they have arrested 30 people and recovered five missing/endangered teens as part of a two-month long operation in the New Orleans area.
Operation Boo Dat 2021 took place from mid-October to Dec. 24. Among the 30 people arrested were 17 for felony sex offender registration violations.
The missing/runaway teens were ages 14-16 and were found to be living in various motels and residences where alleged criminal activity was taking place. They were found with or had recently been with adult males and are thought to be the victims of sex trafficking, a common fate among runaway teens who do not soon make it home.
Arrests also included a man accused of raping a 12-year-old.
Here are the highlights that were shared by the U.S. Marshal’s Service:
Recoveries of Operation Boo Dat 2021 include:
- The recoveries of five missing/endangered teens with one being a 16-year-old female JPSO runaway who left her residence in Marrero (Jefferson Parish) by allegedly stealing a relative’s vehicle and a handgun. That teen, who was known to have ties to Bourbon Street and the Chef Highway area of New Orleans, was recovered at a residence in the 7900 block of Benson Street New Orleans, LA and was located living with several adults to include an adult female strip club dancer. While not included in the three recoveries, a 17-year-old female who had been missing/runaway for some time was arrested in Hammond, LA on a Tangipahoa Parish felony warrant for Human Trafficking. That female was also wanted on a warrant out of Natchez, Mississippi for stealing a vehicle. She is known to have prior ties to several female runaways from New Orleans as well as ties to organized gang activities.
- The second recovery involved a 14-year-old female with possible sex trafficking ties being recovered at a motel off Read Blvd. in New Orleans East. She was located along with a 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old female staying in a motel room. The room smelled of Marijuana and alcohol. The girls advised that before moving to that room they were in another motel room with adult males from Baton Rouge, LA who left/stranded them to return to Baton Rouge, LA due to the adult men’s cousin being shot.
- A third recovery was the result of a collateral lead request from USMS Middle District of Louisiana to attempt to locate a 15-year-old runaway female for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. That teen had prior human sex trafficking issues in Baton Rouge, but her pimp had recently been murdered. She was located living with her 17-year-old boyfriend and one of his relatives at an apartment in the 12100 block of North I-10 Service Road New Orleans, LA. Information was also developed that the female was regularly leaving the apartment to meet with adult males in New Orleans East. The case is also possibly associated with an armed robbery that occurred in the same area.
- The fourth and fifth recoveries were of two sisters ages 15 and 16 with one missing out of St. Tammany Parish, LA and the younger sister missing out of Baton Rouge, LA. Both females may be victims of adult(s) felony criminal sexual activities and they were recovered at an apartment in Baton Rouge with critical support from USMS Middle District of Louisiana and Baton Rouge Police Department.
Other Highlights of Operation Boo Dat 2021 include:
- – The early morning December 10, 2021, arrest of Tier 3 Sex Offender Lorenzo Oliver on a December 2021 felony warrant from the New Orleans Police Department related to the alleged First-Degree Rape of a 12-year-old female victim in an abandoned residence on the West Bank of New Orleans. Oliver, who had been featured in local media in 2013 for an arrest that involved him following an adult female into the bathroom of the Westwego, LA library and attempting to rape her, was convicted in 2015 of Attempted Forcible Rape and Sexual Battery in Jefferson Parish and must register as a sex offender for life.- The October 19, 2021, federal arrest of a sex offender for the alleged Failure to Report International Travel to Ethiopia to the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office as required by Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). His original 2004 Pierce County, Washington conviction was for Molestation in the Second Degree (2 Counts) involving a 12-year-old female with molestation allegations dating back several years prior. He was located and arrested in Gonzales, LA and the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
- – The October 25, 2021, arrest of sex offender James Sorrell at a local homeless shelter in New Orleans where he was found to be staying under a false name. Sorrell was wanted on a Texas Department of Corrections Parole warrant from November of 2019 based on a prior Failure to Register as a Sex Offender conviction and he also had active Austin, Texas PD and Dane County, Wisconsin warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. His original 1987 conviction in Idaho involved a 7-year-old female victim.
- – The October 26, 2021, arrest of sex offender David Douglas Smith who was wanted out of Jackson County, Mississippi on a Failure to Register as a Sex Offender warrant from June of 2019. His original 1996 East Baton Rouge Parish conviction was for Molestation of a Juvenile (9-year-old female). He was found in the Hammond, LA area in late October 2021 based on a collateral lead from USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force (Southern Mississippi USMS Office) Smith had been living in Tangipahoa Parish for over two years without SORNA compliance.
- – The October 29, 2021, arrest of Lamonte Versill Morris on a collateral lead request from USMS Southern Texas Corpus Christi Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force. Morris was wanted on a San Patricio County, Texas warrant from June 2021 for the alleged Aggravated Sexual Assault on a known 14-year-old female victim. Morris had gone on the run knowing that he was wanted. He was located by the USMS New Orleans Task Force at a residence in the 3800 block of Dhemecourt New Orleans.
- – The November 08, 2021, arrest of James E. Muse who was wanted on a LA Parole Violations warrant for not reporting to LA Probation and Parole for a considerable amount of time. He was on parole for an Enticing Persons Under 17 into Prostitution in Orleans Parish and there have been reoccurring allegations reported to law enforcement of him being involved in sex trafficking. Muse had been an Operation Boo Dat 2020 arrest related to the alleged 2020 charges of Aggravated Battery of a teen using a cigarette lighter and Simple Robbery.
- – The December 07, 2021, arrest of Tier 3 Sex Offender Anthony Roberts on a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office felony Failure to Register as a Sex Offender warrant from October of 2019. He had been featured by Crimestoppers GNO as a part of their Boo Dat 2020 fugitive photo spread and was aware that he was wanted. Roberts was originally convicted in 1997 of Attempted Forcible Rape and must register for life. He received a 20 year LA DOC sentence for the original conviction. He was located residing at an apartment on Tabany Street in Metairie, Louisiana.
- – The December 22, 2021, arrest of Tier 3 Sex Offender Kuimar Stephens at a residence in the 6900 block of Yorktown Dr. New Orleans as he tried to flee out of a window. A small quantity of what is believed to be Ecstasy was later seized off Stephens. He was wanted on an Orleans Parish Criminal District Court warrant from August of 2020 for Failure to Appear in Court on a pending felony Failure to Register as a Sex Offender charge and had not updated his registration since at least 2020. Stephens was also wanted on a New Orleans Police Department warrant from November of 2021 alleging that Kuimar Stephens was in possession of a rifle on November 21st. This stems from a November 21st, 2021, shooting incident in the 3400 block of Pleasure Street where it is alleged that person(s) shot at Stephens over one hundred times and an AK-47 variant rifle was recovered by New Orleans Police Department at the scene of the shooting.
Several law enforcement agencies in and around the New Orleans area took part in the operation.
You can read the full news release here.
Copyright 2021 KNOE. All rights reserved.
