Kim Kardashian West has called her attorneys on behalf of Cyntoia Brown, a woman who was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 16 because she killed the man who bought her as a trafficked child sex slave.
On Tuesday the star posted a tweet drawing attention to the case of Cyntoia Brown, who was convicted in 2004. She included a screenshot of a text post that summarized Brown’s story and wrote, “The system has failed. It’s heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life! We have to do better and do what’s right. I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this.”
The text post itself read, “Imagine at the age of 16 being sex-trafficked by a pimp called ‘cut-throat.’ After days of being repeatedly drugged and raped by different men you were purchased by a 43 year old child predator who took you to his home to use you for sex. You end up finding enough courage to fight back and shoot and kill him. Your [sic] arrested as result tried and convicted as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. This is the story of Cyntoia Brown. She will be eligible for parole when is 69 years old.”
Hours prior, Rihanna also uploaded a screenshot of the same text post to her Instagram. “Did we somehow change the definition of #JUSTICE along the way??” she wrote. “cause….. Something is horribly wrong when the system enables these rapists and the victim is thrown away for life! To each of you responsible for this child’s sentence I hope to God you don’t have children, because this could be your daughter being punished for punishing already!”
According to Newsweek, the text post in question originated from a 2011 documentary by director Daniel Birman about Brown’s story. As the text post reads, Brown was only 16 (legally a child) when she killed 43-year-old Johnny Mitchell Allen, who solicited her for sex. After Allen took her back to his home, she shot and killed him. At her trial Brown did not deny killing Allen and was sentenced to life on prostitution and murder charges despite her team’s efforts to use her lifetime of emotional, physical, and sexual trauma as a defense.
Birman’s documentary was influential enough to change Tennessee laws so that minors could not be charged for prostitution and would be considered victims of sex trafficking, Newsweek reports. However, the new laws do not retroactively apply to Brown, who is now 29 and has spent 13 years in prison. She completed her associate’s degree in prison, is working on her bachelor’s, and consults on an unpaid basis for the juvenile justice system. It will be another 51 years before Brown is eligible for parole.
It is not yet evident why celebrities like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West as well as T.I. are speaking up now about Brown, but a local news story was published on Thursday, which may have brought new, viral attention to the case.
