The cops put the three suspects in a room and started the video recorder. They ended up sitting there for four hours.
DeWayne Ward, 18, Vilbert Jean, 36, and Marlene San Vincente, 22, started talking with each other about what they were facing and how they got into the mess of their lives. They are three of the four suspects involved in a human trafficking case involving a 13-year-old girl who was forced to dance nude at Miami Beach's Club Madonna, according to authorities.
What is evident from their conversation – heard on jailhouse video obtained by NBC 6 – is they did not appear to know that the teen Ward and Jean are accused of forcing into prostitution was 13 years old.
San Vincente, the Club Madonna dancer who police said brought the 13-year-old into the strip club, was floored when she found out from police that the girl was not 18, and did not have a baby.
San Vincente told the other two suspects that her heart hurt when she found out the girl’s true age. "Man I’m crying,” said Ward. He forced the 13-year-old to have sex with him on more than six occasions, according to police.
San Vincente's lawyer said she was shocked when police told her that the girl was not a mother.
Dustin Tischler, who represents San Vincente, said the candid conversations heard in the video are good for his client.
"It shows she is not lying,” he said.
Tischler added, "They sit there and they talk about how shocking it is that they found out that this girl’s 13. Marlene says that her heart hurts and the other guys are saying that it’s unbelievable."
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Jean, Ward and San Vincente all face human trafficking and other charges in the case. Jean and Ward remain in jail, while San Vincente is out on bond.
The 13-year-old, who police have said is a habitual runaway, was missing again Thursday evening. But police said Friday that she was located after her family filed a missing persons report.
Her whereabouts remained unclear, however. NBC 6 went to the girl’s grandmother’s home Friday, but no one would comment, and the station’s crew was asked to leave.
