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04/08/2025: HT News Bulletin


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. 

California 22-year-old man arrested during an undercover operation, traveled to San Jose from Richmond with the intent of exploiting a juvenile for commercial sex.
California Riverside County deputies arrest a Corona couple on human trafficking charges after authorities received an anonymous tip. The investigation revealed at least nine potential victims. However, only four have been located and interviewed at this time.
California San Jose man arrested for sex trafficking a 17-year-old minor victim in multiple states who had previously been reported missing from her home in Ohio.
California Monterey Park man arrested for running a suspected brothel in Irvine. Orange County HTTF executed a search warrant and found several items indicative of brothel operations and provided resources to 4 potential victims. 
Florida A man and woman were arrested for sex trafficking a Venezuelan woman on South Beach following an undercover operation targeting traffickers and exploiters.
Michigan Ferndale man was arrested for prostituting a 49-year-old female victim out of a Southfield hotel room. 
North Carolina Two men were arrested for human trafficking and kidnapping after a 15-year-old girl was reported missing from Spring Lake. Authorities located the victim, who stated she had met one of the suspects online.
Texas 3 individuals were arrested for human trafficking during an undercover operation in Smith County. The officers posed as “Johns” who were looking for “dates” with prostitutes in an effort to find victims and traffickers. 
Virginia 27-year-old man was arrested for trafficking a woman he transported from Florida to Radford, where he exploited her for prostitution in a hotel using online ads.


California San Diego-based canned tuna giant Bumble Bee Seafoods was sued by 4 men who were labor trafficked and held in debt bondage by the company. Four men from Indonesian villages were promised good jobs on Bumble Bee’s “trusted fleet” tuna boats but were instead subjected to physical abuse, deprived of adequate food, and denied medical care and held in debt bondage that left them destitute.  
Connecticut 47-year-old citizen of Mexico, last residing in Vernon, was sentenced to 3 years for her role in a human smuggling and labor trafficking scheme. The operation brought undocumented immigrants into the U.S., harbored them at Hartford area residences, forced them to work, and threatened to harm them in various ways if they failed to pay exorbitant fees, interest, and other living expenses.
Nevada Las Vegas man was arrested for forcing three victims from Cuba into domestic servitude. He confiscated their passports and other identification and provided false statements on immigration documents to restrict the victims’ ability to move and forcibly continue their labor.
New York A former building superintendent was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the rape and labor trafficking of a housecleaner. The man coerced an undocumented immigrant from Paraguay into having sex for money, sometimes in the presence of her special needs daughter. He exerted control over the woman by tracking her phone and destroying her passport.


Michigan A Livonia woman arrested in connection to a human trafficking investigation at massage parlors in Oakland and Wayne counties. Four women from China who don’t speak English were rescued from three separate massage parlors operated by the woman.
Ohio While executing a warrant, Fairfield County authorities recovered evidence linking a local massage business to illicit operations and human trafficking. Individuals at the establishment were believed to be trafficking victims and have been provided services.


Indiana Four potential victims were arrested for prostitution following a multi-agency investigation into illicit activity at massage parlors in Michigan City and Trail Creek.
New York Two potential victims were arrested for prostitution during a massage parlor raid on Long Island.
New York Seven potential victims charged with prostitution during raids of three New York Massage parlors. 
New York A massage parlor was shut down, and two potential victims were arrested during a massage parlor raid in Nesconset in response to community complaints.
New York A potential victim was arrested for prostitution during a raid at a Lindenhurst Foot Spa.
North Carolina Two women were arrested this week on prostitution charges at a home in Cary. 


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Alabama Baldwin county man sentenced to 23 years for attempted sex trafficking of a 9-year-old, after offering an escort $800 for sex with her daughter.
Colorado 52-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years for human trafficking for sexual servitude, sexual exploitation of a child, and sexual assault. He lured young women under the guise of providing them stability and support, only to control them through coercion and force, ultimately subjecting them to sexual servitude. 
Colorado 34-year-old man convicted on multiple counts related to human trafficking after a 2020 traffic stop led to the discovery of two runaway teenagers in his vehicle.
Maryland Woman sentenced to 15 years for trafficking 11 victims from Hagerstown to hotels in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County to engage in commercial sex. She exploited the women by providing them drugs and then forcing them to repay the  “drug debts” by engaging in commercial sex acts.
Nevada Reno man who fled while the jury was deliberating his case was found in Las Vegas and given a life sentence for chid abuse and sex trafficking two minors.
North Carolina Raleigh woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of sex trafficking and production of CSAM of a 12-year-old girl.
Ohio Cleveland man pleads guilty to human trafficking charges after he transported his victims across the eastern US and to Nevada to engage in prostitution. The man is tied to more than 4,000 sex advertisements in 12 states, including 2,000 in Ohio.
Ohio Previously convicted sex offender pleads guilty to federal exploitation & sex trafficking crimes. The man used drugs and alcohol to subdue two minor female victims, ages 12 and 13 years old, whom he assaulted and exploited out of various Columbus hotels.
Washington Violent pimp who ran a sex trafficking enterprise through CA, AZ, and WA sentenced to 15 years in prison. The young women were required to give him all the money they earned in prostitution, and 3 women had his name tattooed on their faces – a sign of “ownership.”


Alabama 19-year-old indicted for a 2023 deadly mass shooting in Huntsville also charged with sex crimes after an undercover child sex sting in Limestone County.
Alabama Six men seeking sex with minors were arrested following an anti-human trafficking operation run by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office. The men found the undercover accounts through social media and online platforms.
Florida 44-year-old man was sentenced to nine years in prison for paying a child in a foreign country to engage in a commercial sex act with him. The man, a former Tampa attorney, travelled to Cambodia and paid four Cambodian children to engage in sex acts with him on multiple occasions. 
Nevada Man faces several human trafficking-related charges after contacting who he thought was a 15-year-old child during an undercover sting operation. 
Ohio 12 sex buyers arrested in an undercover prostitution sting conducted by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office. The operation targeted individuals soliciting prostitution through online ads. Undercover deputies posed as sex workers, arranged meetings, and arrested the buyers at agreed meeting locations.
Ohio Two men were arrested in a Mahoning Valley HTTF online undercover operation. One man was seeking to purchase sex and arranged a meet-up with an undercover officer; the other was caught posing as a woman selling sex online. 
Oregon Two trafficked teenagers were recoverd, and nine sex buyers were arrested during an undercover operation mission to combat human trafficking in Portland.
South Dakota Rapid City man was convicted on multiple child sexual exploitation charges after a Sturgis Rally sting targeting online child predators.
Utah Box Elder County judge was arrested on multiple child sex crimes and placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Authorities became aware that the man was using an app to communicate with others about sexually abusing, sexually exploiting, and enticing children.

Nevada Two new bills aim to expand sex offender registration and protect trafficking victims. 
New York Baldwinsville man was sentenced to 45 years for the sexual exploitation of a child and the distribution and receipt of CSAM. He sexually abused a minor female for several years, beginning when the child was approximately 2 years old, and created numerous sexually explicit images and videos depicting the sexual abuse. 



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