MILWAUKEE — A couple living at a veterans housing complex in Milwaukee is facing felony charges for allegedly sex-trafficking an 18-year-old woman at their apartment.
Derek Brown and Sarah Kueny are accused of trafficking the woman about 40 times over the course of a month in May 2025. A criminal complaint says they arragned meetups five to 12 times per day inside their apartment at the Milwaukee Soldiers Home.
The victim was 17 years old and in foster care when she met the couple through Brown’s nephew. When the teenager aged out of foster care, Brown and Kueny allegedly told her she could stay with them for no charge in exchange for being sex trafficked.
“Within one week Brown and Kueny pressured [the victim] to make money by participating in commercial sex acts,” the complaint said. “Brown and Kueny told [the victim] she would either participate in commercial sex acts or find somewhere else to live.”
The victim told investigators that Brown and Kueny let her keep half of the money, and that she “would make tips from clients but was so fearful of Brown that she always gave the tips to Kueny.”
The complaint says Kueny posted advertisements online and organized the “dates” between men and the victim, and that Brown acted as “protection” during the meetups.
The 18-year-old said did not have any money or means to live somewhere else and believed her only other option was to live on the streets. She said she did not want to participate in the sex dates and eventually left when the couple became “emotionally abusive.”
Kueny will stand trial after pleading not guilty to one charge of receiving money for human trafficking. Brown faces the same charge and one charge of keeping a place of prostitution. He has a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 2.
The Milwaukee Soldiers Home is owned by the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, an agency with a financially-troubled past. Part of the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs campus, the soldiers home has about 100 units for veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
