A Chicago man faces new charges after bringing a Milwaukee girl, 15, to Northwest Indiana for prostitution in local hotels, records show.
Jeremy McCovins, 33, was charged Wednesday with promotion of child sexual trafficking, a Level 3 felony.
He has not been apprehended. When arrested, he is ordered held without bail.
The victim, already in sex work in Milwaukee, told investigators that McCovins contacted her on the “Tagged” app and told her she could come to Indiana to “make some money,” the affidavit states.
Days later when she “ran out of food” and her housing situation turned dicey, she accepted the offer in September 2023, Merrillville Police Det. Aaron Ridgeway wrote. McCovins picked her up in Milwaukee.
Near the Merrillville hotel, he pulled over and told her to perform a sex act, before they had sex, according to documents. The next day, McCovins and another sex worker took nude pictures of the victim to solicit “dates” online.
After about a week in Indiana, the victim returned to Milwaukee. While there, she contacted a friend to come with her, who declined, saying she didn’t “want to be pimped out,” Ridgeway wrote.
Eventually, McCovins’ behavior grew “worse.”
The woman said she was hurt and bleeding, but he still made her see “customers.” He gave her $100 of the $800 she should have made.
The victim contacted the earlier sex worker and went briefly to Illinois, before making her way back to Milwaukee. McCovins still contacted her.
The girl said she thought McCovins’ name was “Jay,” but learned his real name when he sent her the money in a cash app. The other sex worker said he was violent toward her and his threats were real.
The victim said she met men for sex in several Merrillville motels and some in Terre Haute.
Milwaukee investigators provided “megapersonals” ads featuring the girl, linked to McCovins’ email.
He was swept up in a Hobart prostitution sting in July 2022. He was charged with promoting prostitution in January 2024.
A woman told investigators that McCovins set up her appointments to have sex with men on his cell phone, gave her rides and she gave him all the money she made.