Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke talks about the new scourge of online pimps.
For decades, parents protecting their daughters from predators are used to watching out for dudes who look like Bishop Don Juan. They are on the lookout for a flesh peddler dressed in a flamboyant fur coat riding around in a tricked out Cadillac. Except the modern day pimp dresses like Steve Urkel and uses Instagram and Twitter to turn tricks.
Here's how it goes down in the social media age: Mom and dad are under the impression that their daughter's new male friend is an entrepreneur. He might tell them that he owns a "social media marketing" company or a "public promotions" firm. He'll dress in clean cut clothes and wear hardly any jewelry. The social media pimp goes after girls in their late teens or early twenties who dream about becoming hip-hop magazine models and video vixens.
Just take a look at some recent federal cases, like one in San Diego back in January when a human-trafficking ring was busted recruited female victims via Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. The gang lured women into prostitution with rap videos and promises of a glamourous life, the feds say, and held a party in Las Vegas called the "Players Ball," where one of the suspects, Robert Banks III, allegedly posed for a picture holding his Pimp Cup and Pimp Stick.
Here in Florida, a 23-year-old single mom from Clearwater was lured to New York City last year by an alleged Brooklyn pimp. Kevon Attz wooed the victim to the Big Apple with messages on Instagram after he saw a photo of her on the photo sharing site. According to the criminal complaint, he threatened and forced her to have sex with multiple men in hotel rooms for almost two weeks.
In Miami, one social media pimp (who I am declining to name because he is not facing criminal charges) turns girls out by providing them with the South Beach lifestyle. He's got at least five young women at any given time. They are posting photos of themselves twerking, lounging, and getting freaky inside his $4.5 million mansion near Alton Road every day.
On Instagram, the girls share the same account which boasts more than 550,000 followers. When superstar celebrity athletes and rappers fly down to Miami, they call him up so his ladies show up to any South Beach hotspot to party. In between popping bottles, the girls and their johns make arrangements for the after-party.
Bottom line: If you're a parent, it's time to be on the lookout for the Instagram Pimp.
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