Teen girl tells of prostitute’s life during trial testimony

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.

In testimony that was sometimes insolent and frequently tearful, one of the teenage girls an alleged pimp is accused of recruiting into his business described her life on the streets.

Tuesday was the first day in the U.S. District Court trial of Andre Taylor, a man FBI agents claim brought underage girls and women across state lines so they could work for him as prostitutes.

Taylor faces six transportation-related counts and three fraud and money laundering-related charges.

The first of the girls to testify made it clear she was not happy about testifying, offering one-word answers that still allowed Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom O'Connell to draw an ugly picture for the 14-member jury.

The girl, now 18, said she was 16 years old when she met Taylor walking near the Stratosphere hotel-casino. The next day she and Taylor flew to San Francisco, and within one week she was working as a prostitute.

Taylor had told her that he was in the process of making a movie about his life, but she denied he told her the movie was about his life as a pimp. In fact, she testified, she didn't ask him what made his life interesting enough for a movie.

"I was 16. I was glad to get out of Vegas," she said.

A few weeks after her arrival in California, the girl testified she called her grandmother to ease her worry. That phone call led to the authorities arresting her on runaway charges and flying her to her grandmother's home in Florida.

She stayed five days. Taylor sent her airfare and she flew to Las Vegas to be with him. Authorities who were waiting at the airport for her took her to a teen counseling center, but she left less than a day later to resume her life with Taylor.

Taylor promptly took her to a Phoenix Department of Motor Vehicles office with a fake birth certificate showing she was 21. The girl told O'Connell she needed to be 21 to get into Las Vegas casinos.

"Why did you need to get into casinos?" O'Connell asked.

"Because that's where you go," the girl replied.

"Why do you need to go into hotels at 16 years of age?" he asked.

"To work," the girl mumbled.

"By work, do you mean as a prostitute?" O'Connell asked.

"Yes," the girl said, sighing heavily.

Defense attorney Michael Kennedy spent much of his cross-examination asking the girl about the many different answers she has given to authorities, grand jurors and at a preliminary hearing.

Kennedy specifically focused on an FBI interview in which the girl told agents she never gave Taylor any of her earnings, that he wasn't her pimp and that Taylor once became upset with her when he learned she was underage.

Question after question was responded to in the same way, "I don't remember."

At one point the girl, obviously irritated with Kennedy's persistence, said "I don't remember because I don't remember this conversation and I'm going to keep saying I don't remember."

During his opening arguments earlier Tuesday, Kennedy had asked the jury to ignore the "broad brush strokes" of the prosecution and to focus on the details, specifically dates and contradictory testimony. O'Connell told jurors during his opening statement that the "tale of exploitation" he was about to tell wasn't merely based on the victims' statements.

"Granted these are not young ladies you would want to have over for dinner, but we have done a nuts and bolts investigation to corroborate their testimony," O'Connell said.