SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. – One of the mothers of the eight alleged victims in the human trafficking case against Kenndric Roberts, said her daughter was brainwashed and made promises and then threatened if she left.
The mother, who does not want to give her name, said her daughter was held up in an upscale Sandy Springs, Ga., gated community, against her will. She said her daughter and the other girls were threatened and so were their families.
“Were they afraid? Yeah, he had guns and threatened their lives. [Roberts] said, ‘You are free to go, but if you do, I will find you and kill you. If you do something, I’ll go after your mother.’”
To further the threat, she said, he had them watched with cameras throughout the house--keeping an eye on their every move.
“When they left the house, he had them so brainwashed, he said, ‘You can go and do this, but if you don’t come back,’ he said, ‘I know where your families are and I will kill them.’”
And her daughter wasn't the only one who was threatened, according to a 911 call.
Everything erupted early Tuesday morning, when a frantic 20-year-old called 911 and told the dispatcher that she and seven other women were being held against their will in a million-dollar mansion, located at 100 Strauss Lane.
"It's house of full of girls and... if I try to leave, he’ll try to kill me," the young woman told the 911 dispatcher.
She also told the dispatcher that she met Roberts, whom she referred to as her "boss," on a website called SeekingArrangements.com and that he forced her to have plastic surgery and makes the women dance for money.
Dispatcher: OK, and how did you meet him?
Caller: On this website. It’s called Seeking Arrangements.
Dispatcher: OK, if you said that there’s nothing illegal going on and you’re not allowed to leave…
Caller: Mmm hmm… No, there are times where you can leave whenever you want. But (unintelligible)… and then he’ll like threaten to kill you and stuff.
When police arrived at the home they found eight women, ranging from 19 to 23 years old.
With the assistance of the FBI, police arrested 33-year-old Roberts and charged him with false imprisonment and trafficking of persons for labor.
"We believe that he'd been making promises to some of these ladies for modeling careers, financial assistance," Sandy Springs Police Sgt. Sam Worsham said.
PHOTOS: Human trafficking suspect arrested for holding women hostage
11Alive’s Valerie Hoff interviewed the mother of one of those women outside the Fulton County Jail on Thursday, where Roberts was scheduled to make his first court appearance. The mother was there to make sure that Roberts wasn’t getting out on bail, because she feared for both her and her daughter’s lives.
She said her daughter was given a lucrative job offer, but, that among many other empty promises, led to her daughter working at a strip club.
“I’m so upset, I’m so upset how people can get away from with this?”
The mother said that her daughter also met Roberts on the dating site, SeekingArrangement.com, where women can find “Sugar Daddies.”
She went on to say that her daughter told her, he had promised her an $80,000 salary promoting his music and entertainment business, Live Star Nation.
And the women, according to her, signed a contract with Roberts.
“When she first told me about it, I said, ‘It sounds too good to be true. You don’t have a college degree,’” she said.
In the beginning, she said, he sweet-talked them and bought them gifts. But that was short-lived.
Soon, she said, her daughter was dancing at a strip club. All that money went to him, she said.
“She never got any money; he took their money. They danced at strip clubs; he never gave them money. He would take them shopping and buy them what they needed, but never gave them any money,” she said.
Some of the women worked at the Pink Pony, and per a police report, two of the women worked at the Club Mardi Gras on Powers Ferry Road.
Managers at both clubs said that they don’t know Roberts. And an attorney for the Pink Pony said, its staff is trained to spot and report any type of human trafficking or illegal activity.
Roberts is being held at Fulton County Jail. His first court appearance was scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m., but the defendant waived his right to a hearing.
“He’s dangerous this is a guy who preys on girls,” the mother said.
“I’m so upset, I’m so upset how people can get away from with this. I just want to get her help so this isn’t something that happens again, where she would end up trapped in an abusive relationship.”