By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Two men from Beaufort County were indited in June for their role in a sex trafficking conspiracy that involved two underaged victims and one adult victim.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, that was released in early July, Alexander Smalls, 25, of Beaufort, and Tre’sean Reid, 21, of Beaufort, were indicted along with Christy Parker, 26, of Fall River, Mass., Cory Primo, 42, of Fall River, Mass., Avvani Jeffers, 22, of Fall River, Mass. And Tyreik Reid, 20, of Allendale, on charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
The charges were brought forward on June 18 by a grand jury in Boston.
The three men from South Carolina – Tyreik Reid, Tre’sean Reid and Smalls – are all brothers and Parker was dating Smalls during the time outlined in the release.
Smalls is awaiting trial in South Carolina and will be arraigned in Boston later while Tyreik Reid was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in South Carolina for a detention hearing on July 10.
According to public records, Smalls is currently being held in the Beaufort County Detention Center without bond on charges of attempted murder; breach of peace, aggravated in nature; and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in connection with an October 2022 shooting at the Enmarket gas station on Trask Parkway in which a man was injured and had to be hospitalized.
While Smalls was identified as the shooter per gas station security footage at the time, he was not arrested for the crime until March 2023.
Tre’sean Reid is a fugitive.
“The allegations in this case are truly chilling. One minor victim in this case was forced to engage in sex for money with many men. That young girl is someone’s daughter she is someone’s granddaughter. It is hard to conceive of more vile conduct than what is set forth in these charges. Sex trafficking is not a distant problem – it is happening right here, in our neighborhoods, and often goes unnoticed or unreported,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.
According to court filings, between January and August 2023, the six defendants worked together in a scheme to coerce the three victims to engage in commercial sex in Massachusetts and surrounding states for their exclusive financial gain.
The release alleges that Parker reached out to the adult victim in early 2023 as she was homeless and needed a place to live.
Shortly after the victim moved in with Parker, she and her boyfriend, Smalls, allegedly coerced the victim to quit her job and begin engaging in commercial sex.
They allegedly forced the victim to sign a “profit sharing contract” which required the victim to “remain loyal and humble and stay focused,” according to the release.
Parker and Smalls allegedly scheduled, coordinated and forced the victim to engage in commercial sex acts.
They also set the prices and kept all the profits.
Parker allegedly used physical violence, threats of violence and other threats to maintain control of the victim.
Additionally, Parker allegedly traveled with the victim to South Carolina where she continued sex trafficking the victim and kept the profits.
When she got back from South Carolina, Parker allegedly enlisted the help of Primo and Jeffers to traffic the victim in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In July 2023, Parker allegedly convinced a 16-year-old victim to begin engaging in commercial sex as well.
It is alleged that she used physical violence, threats of violence, alcohol, marijuana, starvation and sleep deprivation to control the victim. It was further alleged that Parker would bead the minor if she fell asleep because a “customer could request her at any time”.
In the release, it states that Parker allegedly withheld food from the victim for 4 to 5 days after she failed to collect the full fee from a buyer, and she regularly beat and chocked her without allowing her to seek medical treatment.
In August 2023, Parker allegedly began trafficking a 17-year-old minor victim who had run away from a group home.
This victim was also controlled with violence if she did not work, and Parker allegedly scheduled “sex buyers” for the victim, from which Parker would collect the profits.
“For months, these victims endured brutality and depravity allegedly at the hands of these individuals,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of Homeland Security investigations in New England. “While these arrests are a significant step toward securing justice, we recognize that this only marks the beginning of three survivors’ paths toward recovery.”
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
