Man arrested after undercover operation reveals forced prostitution

Published 9:19 am Friday, March 15, 2024

SALISBURY — A man has been arrested after an undercover human trafficking investigation located a 16-year-old girl who had been forced into prostitution.

The girl was reported missing out of Charlotte at some point in the past. On Wednesday, detectives with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office conducted an undercover operation into human trafficking and prostitution in Salisbury when they located the girl, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.

The juvenile was the victim of forced prostitution that had been organized by a 33-year-old convicted felon who was on parole, said the release.

Jail records list 33-year-old Kadeem Zelique Williams as being arrested on Thursday and charged with felony promoting the prostitution of a minor or a person with mental disabilities, felony assault by strangulation and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Williams is listed as being in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $250,000 bond.

Williams is a convicted felon, having multiple convictions for assault and robbery charges, including a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, according to North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections records. The records indicate that Williams is on parole for the assault, with his parole ending on Sept. 26. The sheriff’s office did not confirm whether Williams was the man charged in relation to the operation on Wednesday.

The release states that no more information on the investigation is available at this time. The sheriff’s office will be holding a press conference on Wednesday at an undetermined time.