South Haven man charged with human trafficking of teenagers

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Michigan – A South Haven man accused of human trafficking a Washington girl has been charged in federal court and will appear in court next year.

Keith Freerksen was arrested on January 31 after police tracked a missing 14-year-old Seattle-area girl to his home. The girl had been missing since January 6.

In Michigan, he was charged with:

• Two cases of human trafficking of minors for the purpose of commercial sex acts
• Two cases of using a computer to commit a crime
• A case of first degree sexual abuse
• Three counts of third-degree sexual abuse
• A case of molestation of a child for immoral purposes

He is also facing charges in Washington.

Now Freerksen has been charged in federal court with attempting to have sexual intercourse with a minor. He is expected to appear in federal court next year.

Until that process is completed, Freerksen's trial in Van Buren County will be postponed.

The investigation into Freerksen began earlier this year after a 14-year-old girl from Washington was reported missing. Authorities said a suspicious vehicle drove from Michigan to Washington and then back to Michigan. Investigators identified Freerksen's vehicle and waited until it returned to the South Haven property before executing the search warrant.

When officers arrested Freerksen, they also found the missing teen on the property. Authorities said Freerksen had sex with the teen over three weeks and gave her a cellphone, clothing, food and marijuana.

The teenager's mother said her daughter allegedly met Freerksen on a social platform called Omegle. Omegle is an online chat room service that allows users to meet random strangers.

The site was closed in November.

It is alleged that Freerksen manipulated the teenager, whose name we are not mentioning, via social media for about a year.

As investigators discovered, both Freerksen and the victim knew each other's ages.

According to the Michigan State Sex Offender Registry, Freerksen was previously convicted of possession of child pornography in Florida in 2017.

In a press conference earlier this year, the teenager's mother wanted to make other parents aware of the dangers of the Internet.

“This perpetrator was able to reach my child through social media platforms from across the country and abuse her over an extended period of time,” the mother said. “How many more children have to be victimized before these social media platforms are subject to stricter standards? How many more families have to suffer like mine?”

It is unclear when Freerksen will go to trial.