A 32-year-old Detroit woman is facing federal charges after investigators say she sexually exploited and trafficked a 16-year-old girl who had been reported missing, with the case breaking open when FBI agents found the teen with her at a motel in Redford in December 2024. Brankica Vukojevic, who has also used the alias Jasmina Huhtravic, was indicted on three federal counts: sexual exploitation of children, sex trafficking of children, and distribution of child pornography.
The case, first reported by ClickOnDetroit, traces back to a federal investigation opened by Homeland Security Investigations after an adult woman came forward saying she had been trafficked. That woman told investigators she had been driven from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Detroit and, per court records, was sold to Vukojevic. She said she was forced to have sex with multiple people and that the money went directly to Vukojevic, according to Homeland Security investigators, and described being locked in a closet at Vukojevic's home alongside another girl.
That alleged trafficking unfolded between October and December 2024. The other girl inside the home had been reported missing that same October, and FBI agents ultimately located her with Vukojevic at a motel in Redford in December. Investigators later found two videos saved on Vukojevic's phone, in Snapchat and in the phone's photo gallery, that they say depict the 16-year-old engaged in sex acts with an adult woman — footage forensic metadata traced back to the same device.
Tattoo on a Hand Becomes Key Evidence
One of the videos, created in November 2024, shows a hand tattooed with the number 7 that investigators identified and that the 16-year-old girl herself later identified as belonging to Vukojevic. A second video, also created in November 2024, shows the same girl with an injury near one eye, and the same tattooed hand appears in that footage as well. Vukojevic allegedly sent both videos through Facebook Messenger, along with a selfie-style photo of herself with the victim.
Investigators also uncovered a message exchange in which Vukojevic and another person agreed on a price of $400, with Vukojevic writing “on our way” and the other person replying “fun thank you.” Separately, investigators later found selfie-style photos of Vukojevic showing the same number 7 tattoo, corroborating the identification made from the videos.
During an FBI interview, the 16-year-old victim said a man forced her to engage in sex acts between September and December 2024 while she lived in a house with that man and Vukojevic, where her room was in the basement. Vukojevic took pictures of the girl inside the house and used Snapchat, according to the account. When investigators showed the victim images from the two videos, she confirmed she was the girl depicted and said Vukojevic made the girls perform sex acts on each other. She also said Vukojevic and the other person gave her crack and crystal meth, and that Vukojevic, the other person, and paying customers appeared in some of the videos. The forced sexual acts reportedly occurred in the basement and in an upstairs bedroom.
Task Force Scope and Mandatory Sentencing Exposure
Cases like this one are typically investigated through the FBI's Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force, which coordinates federal and local police across Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors opened the criminal case against Vukojevic on March 19, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, under docket number 2:26-mj-30146, according to court filings logged on PacerMonitor.
The statutory exposure is severe. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1591, sex trafficking of a minor under 18 carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and up to life imprisonment, per the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Federal convictions for child sexual exploitation under 18 U.S.C. § 2251 carry their own mandatory minimum of 15 years, with maximum sentences reaching 30 years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Beyond prison time, federal trafficking convictions also trigger mandatory restitution to victims and a mandatory $5,000 special assessment fee under federal law.
Vukojevic is currently incarcerated at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti and is due back in federal court for a status conference on October 27. Court records cited by ClickOnDetroit show she has prior convictions in Wayne and Macomb counties on weapons and drug charges, and public arrest records show she was also arrested by the Eastpointe Police Department in February 2022 on charges including possession of controlled substances under 25 grams and illegal use of a financial transaction device, according to Arrests.org.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Metro Detroit
The case follows other recent Hoodline reporting on the issue, including a case in which a motel tip exposed alleged trafficking in Southfield, and another involving a Madison Heights woman charged in a trafficking case spanning four Metro Detroit cities. Michigan's trafficking numbers remain significant: in 2023, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 779 signals from the state, identifying 254 confirmed trafficking cases and 506 individual victims, according to the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission. Advocacy group Hope Against Trafficking has reported that in 2024, at least 340 distinct trafficking situations involving 585 individuals were reported statewide to the hotline.
Federal task forces have targeted the region before. The FBI's Operation Independence Day previously recovered nine child sex trafficking victims in Metro Detroit in a single month, ranking the area third highest nationwide for juvenile recoveries, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Local nonprofits such as Elli's House continue to provide outreach, emergency housing, and recovery support for women and youth escaping trafficking and sexual exploitation in the region, per ClickOnDetroit.
It remains unclear whether additional co-conspirators or buyers identified in the digital messages tied to this case will face separate federal or state charges, and the ongoing recovery status of the minor victim has not been detailed in court records reviewed so far.
