03/31/2024 HT News Bulletin

forgingfreed0m

2 years ago

We monitor and fact-check media coverage of human trafficking and share the top cases with you from each week. A broad view of what is happening across the country can be translated into action, allowing us to collectively change the system and the public narrative.

New York Young couple faces 22-count indictment, sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, and third-degree rape, among other charges
New York A New York City Transit employee is accused of running a brothel out of his Brooklyn apartment
Nevada Family court marshal faces five felony charges including sex trafficking of a child under 18
Missouri La Plata police officer charged with numerous sex crimes
California 32 year-old man charged in 5-count federal grand jury indictment including sex trafficking, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault
Colorado Man arrested on charges related to internet luring and sexual exploitation of a child
Illinois Springfield man owned or rented six “houses of prostitution” in which Asian women provided sexual services in exchange for food, lodging, and income
Louisiana 24yr-old woman arrested on charges of human trafficking and pandering
Indiana Man arrested on human trafficking charges following officer response to a domestic disturbance
Ohio man accused of trafficking at least 8 women faces 17 felony charges, tied to more than 4,000 sex advertisements in 12 states
Alabama Mother of Kamarie Holland pleads guilty to sex trafficking, could face up to 20 years in prison
Ohio 24 year-old man arrested in sting after agreeing to pay $100 for a sex act with a 15-year-old on a website used for prostitution solicitation

Arkansas Migrant sugarcane farmworkers in Arkansas seek partial summary judgment in a wage dispute, alleging underpayment of $410,089 under the H-2A visa program
Rhode Island WL Builders under investigation for employing unauthorized workers and wage theft in Rhode Island, face over $869K in penalties
Texas Man accused of smuggling individuals from Honduras and forcing them to work under deplorable conditions will stand trial starting this month
New York An internal NewGuild memo says the New York Times owes $122,742.17 in unpaid overtime to union members
Utah Rubicon Contracting LLC executives face nine felony charges of aggravated human trafficking , engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity and money laundering
Alabama Group of inmates sued the state of Alabama Dec. 2023, challenging prison convict labor program, which lawsuit describes as a “modern-day form of slavery”
Minnesota 3 South African farm workers filed a lawsuit against Minnesota manure management company, alleging wage theft, substandard living conditions, violations of visa rules, and retaliation

Idaho Woman running local massage parlor arrested on suspicion of human trafficking
Connecticut Two arrests and seizures of cash, computers, records, cameras, and more after warrant executed at spa in Montville

South Carolina 3 potential victims arrested in undercover motel sting in Florence County
Alabama 10 potential victims arrested for prostitution in undercover sting operation
Florida 8-day long undercover human trafficking operation ‘Operation March Sadness’ resulted in 228 arrests- of the 66 prostitutes arrested during the investigation, 13 were identified as possible human trafficking victims
Ohio Five employees of a Union Township massage spa were arrested and face charges ranging from solicitation to promotion of prostitution and human trafficking
Connecticut Two women arrested for prostitution in local spa with no mention of charges brought against business for human trafficking or business-related violations
Maryland three arrested on prostitution-related charges after anonymous tip led authorities to uncover illicit network at massage parlors across city, no inclusion of charges brought against the business

Massachusetts Former security guard at a program for pregnant teens convicted by a federal Boston jury of sex trafficking a minor and forcing her to work at a strip club
Pennsylvania A Lancaster County man will serve up to 23 months in prison for attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl
Florida After 4 day trial, Orange County man found guilty of Human Trafficking and sentenced to life in prison for trafficking a runaway juvenile for several months
Wisconsin  Man sentenced to 360 months in prison plus supervised release for life following sex trafficking conviction
Nevada  Washoe County D.A. secures conviction in child sexual exploitation case
California  Man pleads guilty to six felony counts including human trafficking and pimping after he coerced a woman from Florida to California and forced her to engage in commercial sex
Massachusetts 38 yr-old man convicted of attempted sex trafficking of a child
Ohio Assistant county prosecutor suspended from practicing law after soliciting sex from undercover human trafficking task force officer posing as 15-year-old
Florida Two sex traffickers convicted of cross-country exploitation of a minor
Missouri Couple plead guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor

Georgia 3 child sex predators arrested by Rome-Floyd Metro Task Force officers
California 8 buyers arrested in undercover motel string operation conducted by the Claremont Police Department, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation
Illinois Illinois Division of Criminal Investigations Trafficking Enforcement Bureau conducted a 2-day operation which successfully ended with the arrest of 5 individuals seeking sexual acts with minors
Oklahoma In a 2-day sting operation Oklahoma law enforcement rescued 10 trafficking victims and arrested 7 men for solicitation of prostitution in the OKC metro area
Maryland 3 buyers arrested in undercover operation in Cambridge
Colorado Garfield County anti-human trafficking operation leads to 10 buyer arrests, some of which sought sexual acts with minors