Who is Arisknight Arkin-Everett Winfree? Man arrested for raping Italian girl by promising fake job
LANSING, MICHIGAN: Arisknight Arkin-Everett Winfree was arrested for handcuffing and sexually assaulting an 18-year-old Italian girl by promising her a fake job as a nanny. The 18-year-old traveled from Italy to Michigan for work. Winfree offered her the job via an au pair website, under the pretext of looking after a niece who did not exist.
According to aupair.com, the job description read, "A young person (female or male) between 17 and 30 years old who stays with a local Host Family, learns their language and culture in exchange for accommodation and pocket money."
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Who is Arisknight Arkin-Everett Winfree?
According to Fox 17, Winfree was initially caught by the police in another incident on September 16, 2022. The police received a call from a woman from Kansas. The woman requested help from the police to check on the welfare of her sister who was at work in a home on Highland Avenue. However, when the police reached the home, they saw Winfree in white robes and a home full of cameras. The police were able to save the girl back then. She claimed the duo met through a site that connected families and workers together. He called himself 'Stryker' and 'Hunter Tiberius.' She also revealed that he possessed approximately seven firearms at his home. Winfree is currently charged federally with kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a child. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
What happened to the Italian girl?
When the case came to light, an 18-year-old girl from Italy contacted the police in East Lansing and claimed that she was sexually assaulted. The woman revealed the initial chat with Winfree, which said, "Hi, we think you'd be a great fit. We live in USA East Lansing MI, are 1 hour and a half from the beaches, and often travel... Please let us know how much allowance you want per week for pay. We cover all your expenses when you come. My name is Stryker. We are looking to fill the position immediately." The girl arrived from Italy on October 12, 2022.
According to the police documents, she revealed, "After some afternoon errands, I went to my room to take a shower. Stryker (Winfree) came in and asked to go down wearing my bathrobe only. I refused. He insisted firmly. I was afraid," the Italian woman wrote in a statement. "Unwillingly, I did what he asked for. I went to his bedroom. Here, he started touching my legs. I rejected his approach. I was afraid and he ordered me to stay still and be quiet [sic]. I felt I was dying." Further, she added, "He asked me whether I consented to him touching me and whether I liked that. I was afraid and said yes. He pulled my hair and forced me to consent to what he was doing. He asked me to repeat 'I do like it', 'I do', and 'yes' several times while he was filming and taking pictures."
She added later, "For the first time in my life, I prayed to God. He turned me on my back and asked me to have full sexual intercourse. After that, I asked him again if I wanted to go back home (to Italy). He instructed me not to say anything to anyone." She was dropped off at a bus station by Winfree the next day and then she escaped to Italy. In a search that happened in December, the FBI seized ten guns, almost 80 grams of suspected cocaine, and sexually explicit materials involving the 17-year-old teen and the 18-year-old Italian woman.
Human Trafficking numbers show alarming increase
Human trafficking is on the rise in the US, according to reports. According to the US Department of State, "Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery."
According to the State, of the 108 human trafficking-related cases, 31 were related to forced labor. Department of Justice also declared that "a total of 228 federal human trafficking prosecutions in FY 2021, an increase from 210 in FY 2020, and 220 in FY 2019, but a decrease from 230 in FY 2018 and 282 in FY 2017. DOJ charged 347 defendants in FY 2021, an increase from 337 in FY 2020 and 343 in FY 2019, but a decrease from 386 in FY 2018 and 553 in FY 2017. Of these FY 2021 prosecutions, 221 involved predominantly sex trafficking, and seven involved predominantly labor trafficking, compared with 195 and 15 in FY 2020; 208 and 12 in FY 2019; 213 and 17 in FY 2018; and 266 and 16 in FY 2017, respectively." Meanwhile, In Michigan, the National human trafficking hotline received 1,186 signals in 2021.