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Milwaukee Police: Teen tortured, forced to wear dog collar in captor's basement

Posted at 8:56 PM, Sep 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-27 08:29:33-04

MILWAUKEE -- Newly unsealed court documents detailed the torture a Milwaukee teen endured after being held captive in a basement for months.

The 19-year-old girl was chained to a pole with a dog collar and often not fed while Milwaukee police say Benjamin Hooks sold her for sex.

According to court records, the victim came to a home at 6050 North 40th Street. She was supposed to work and live with an older woman as a home care aide. Instead, documents show Hooks, 24, took her into the basement and held her for six months.

Record show Hooks first beat her, then sexually assaulted her and eventually sold her. 

The report said: "She was forced to engage in sex more than one hundred times with various men."

She also saw Hooks sexually assaulted and beat another young girl in front of her.

Hooks left the teen locked in the basement with a pit bull. The 19-year-old says she would receive "food and water sparingly... and she would share it with the dog."

Hooks would beat the teen with the dog's leash and "sometimes put a dog collar on her neck and keep her in the dog cage."

Finally on Feb. 14, 2017, while the suspect was away the victim was able to escape. It took the victim a few months to go to the police. She said she feared he would harm her family. 

Hooks now faces multiple charges including human trafficking, sexual assault and false imprisonment. He also faces charges for hurting other young girls including sexual assault of a child, child prostitution and trafficking of a child.

His next court date is Oct. 2. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $200,000 bond.