Judge: Pimp was child prostitute's foster father

By: Freeman Klopott

A Temple Hills man accused of selling young girls for sex was the foster father for one of the girls who worked for him since she was 12 years old, authorities said.

The girl, referred to only as "S.H." in court documents, also was raped by Shelby Lewis, a D.C. detective testified in Washington's federal court. She was one of several girls Lewis is accused of trafficking from Maryland to D.C.'s popular prostitution track at 14th and K streets Northwest.

Lewis was arrested in May. On Thursday, a federal judge held the 42-year-old Lewis without bail, in part because Lewis' "role as a foster care provider to S.H. while also acting as her 'pimp' militate against pretrial release" U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson wrote. She added "[Lewis'] role in the interstate prostitution and sex trafficking of minors compel the conclusion that the community would be endangered by his release." Calls to Lewis' attorney Friday were not returned.

The judge reached that conclusion after hearing testimony from a District detective who said that Lewis "forced four youths to engage in commercial sex acts on various prostitution 'tracks,' in repayment for living in his home."

Lewis' foster child was one of the youngest of his alleged harem, court documents said. She started working for him when she was 12 and continued to do so for two and half years. The detective testified that Lewis had sex with his foster child and another girl who worked for Lewis for three years, starting when she was 13.

Lewis was first taken into custody after D.C. police arrested two of his alleged victims -- ages 14 and 16 -- while they walked the 14th and K streets track, court documents said.

Soon after their arrests, authorities located a 13-year-old girl who had been reported missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Prosecutors said the girl told authorities Lewis had been prostituting her for the past three years.

When police searched Lewis' Temple Hills home, they found pictures of a 17-year-old girl tied up on his bed and "numerous" other pictures of "victims," according to court documents said. They also found a handgun and ammunition, officers said.