Sentence Is 17 Years in ‘White Slavery’ Kidnaping Case

A parole violator who police said lured young women into a “white slavery” ring based in Studio City was sentenced Friday to 17 years in state prison on convictions for kidnaping and rape.

Charles Dewitt Primus, 24, was sentenced in San Fernando Superior Court after pleading guilty Feb. 13 to forcible rape with the use of a gun, kidnaping and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with incidents last July and August in which he was accused of forcing a teen-age runaway and a young woman into prostitution.

While on probation for statutory rape, Primus kidnaped a 15-year-old who had run away from her Phoenix home to Hollywood and forced her to perform acts of prostitution, threatening that if she tried to flee he would beat and kill her, according to a police report.

Primus was arrested after police stopped him with the girl in Hollywood on July 23. When officers asked if she was a prostitute, the girl said Primus had brutalized her, the report said.

The girl was sent back to Arizona, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman said.

The other victim, a 22-year-old Baltimore woman, told police that she was lured to Primus’ apartment Aug. 19 by his girlfriend, whom she met on the beach in Venice. The girlfriend offered her a place to stay but, when she arrived at the Coldwater Canyon Avenue apartment, Primus forced her at gunpoint to perform acts of prostitution, the woman told police.

The woman, described by police as “a pretty, naive and All-American” type, was held in Primus’ apartment four days, until he forced her into his car and drove her to Venice and she escaped while the car was stopped at a red light, the report said.

As part of a plea bargain, prostitution-related charges against Primus were dropped.

According to the probation report, Primus was last employed as a telephone installer in Los Angeles, but his primary source of income was pandering.

A probation officer called Primus “a predator of young women,” but Primus denied that he was a pimp and said the victims lied about prostitution activities.

“The defendant has engaged in a pattern of violent conduct which indicates a serious danger to society,” the probation report said. “He uses vulnerable young women, forcing them into a life of prostitution and controlling them by fear and by brutalizing them physically, and then uses weapons to extort money from them.”

After the sentencing, San Fernando Superior Court Judge Robert D. Fratianne agreed to the defense attorney’s request that he marry Primus and his girlfriend, who will be released this weekend from Sybil Brand Institute, where she has been held on unrelated charges, Loveman said.

The wedding is scheduled for April 1. Primus will be eligible for parole in 1995.