NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A judge has dismissed child sex trafficking charges against three individuals who were indicted in a Somali gang sex trafficking ring because they were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred.
U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes issued an order last Thursday dismissing the charges against Abdullahi Hashi, Hassan Ahmed Dahir and Abdirahman Abdirazak Hersi, and defense attorneys were trying to get them released from jail this week.
Haynes noted in his order that federal prosecutors failed to prove that they were at least 18 years old at the time of the offenses. The three were severed from the trial of nine other defendants held in April after defense attorneys argued that they were younger than reflected by the dates of birth listed in their immigration papers.
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