The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reported Friday the arrest of Yilibeth “Yibi” Rivero De Caldera in Murfreesboro, who they claim trafficked at least a dozen women from Central and South America to Tennessee, where she then forced them to perform “commercial sex acts” to repay their debt.
A press release reveals authorities allege “De Caldera provided financial assistance” for her “female Hispanic immigrants,” but after they arrived in Tennessee, they claim she “levied the victims with a large debt and forced them to engage in commercial sex acts at local hostels to pay back the debt.”
Authorities arrested De Caldera in Rutherford County, and she remains in Davidson County on a $900,000 bond at press time. TBI explained she has been charged with nine counts of Trafficking for a Commercial Sex Act. TBI said the arrest was part of a greater “investigation into a human trafficking ring in Middle Tennessee.”
The TBI reported that 12 victims were ultimately rescued by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department, Murfreesboro Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition executive director Aaron Gulbransen told The Tennessee Star the claims about De Caldera are “a classic case of what happens” in Tennessee. He explained, “Most of the cases are trafficking in United States citizens, but this is definitely one of the common archetypes.”
Gulbransen, who is a former reporter for The Star, reflected that he expects to “see more arrests and more public investigations” due to the efforts of the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition to highlight the issue, but also predicted the problem will worsen due to the immigration crisis, which recently prompted the Biden administration to close a remote Arizona border crossing.
“It’s going to continually increase. Biden’s border policies are contributing to the problem, but the human and trafficking problem at the border is still a small component of the human trafficking problem throughout the United States.” Still, Gulbransen explained, “It’s Biden’s policies, both at the border and internally, that allow this problem to exist.”
The TBI recently released its first human trafficking report in a decade, and the data gathered by the agency showed a 800 percent increase in reported abuse of minors over just a five year period. The agency’s report was mandated by a law passed during the Tennessee General Assembly’s special legislative session.
That bill was supported by the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, and the group told The Star the report was an important “baseline” which can be used to chart law enforcement’s progress, but warned “TBI needs additional resources pertaining to data collection and additional agents” to confront human trafficking in Tennessee.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Sent this to Camren Sextons office. ” Illegals are not a problem in TN.” Crossville TN at TCAT meeting with Senator Bailey, cumber land Mayor Foster..
Is Ms De Caldera here illegally or under a visa or green card? If any of those apply, she should be deported yesterday.
the fruits of the biden administration
“ilbeth de Caldera of Murfreesboro Trafficked Illegal Immigrants from Central America, Forced Them Into Prostitution: TBI Alleges”
Great, she is in the pen. But you mistakenly identified the so-called victims as “illegal immigrants”. The are not immigrants. That word denotes some form of legitimacy.
The are ILLEGAL ALIENS. That is what our laws call them. So, quit using polit-speak and get real. ID them as our laws identify them: ILLEGAL ALIENS.
if she is eligible for deportation send her ass back to where she came from. dont waste tax dollars maintaining her.