HT News Bulletin: 8/23/2023


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. 

Georgia: Man indicted for attempting to sell minor on the dark web on a website called “Slave Bay”. He knew the girl through church.
Georgia: Ohio man and woman arrested together for sex trafficking a minor, after high speed chase with the police. The woman arrested, age 20, may also be a trafficking victim of the man arrested, age 32.
Wisconsin: 54 year old man arrested for human trafficking and keeping a place of prostitution. Two victims are minors, and he is accused of using violence and narcotics to control the victims.
New Mexico: 65 year old man arrested for raping and sex trafficking 7 year old child in his care.
New Jersey: 48 year old man indicted for sex trafficking adults and minors across multiple states.
New Jersey: Essex man indicted for sex trafficking women and minors. This federal indictment follows a 2022 county level indictment.
Utah: Man arrested for trafficking woman from Las Vegas to Utah, coercing her via violence, punishment for not meeting daily quoteas, and threats to her children.
Ohio: 32 year old man arrested for sex trafficking a minor across state lines and in Georgia and South Carolina.
Ohio: 40 year old woman arrested in the death of one of her potential victims, who she sex trafficked in exchange for drugs.
Washington: Man arrested for sex trafficking and sexually abusing women and at least one minor.
California: Man and woman arrested for sex trafficking and raping at least one minor under the age of 14.
Louisiana: While responding to fire in a mobile home, firemen find a woman being held against her will and sex trafficked.
Pensylvania: 20 year old transgender woman arrested for sex trafficking 16 year old minor. She posted ads, coordinated the sex buyers, and dictated the schedule and work pace for the minor.
Florida: 38 year old oman arrested for sex trafficking a 14 year old minor as well as creating and disseminating child pornography.
 Florida: Couple arrested for trafficking victims outside of their home where their minor child lives. They used humiliation and threats of violence humiliation to control the vicitms.
Florida: Pensacola man arrested for attempting to sex traffic a 15 year old girl.
Oregon: 30 year old man arrested for sex trafficking at least 7 victims. The victims were connected to services.
North Carolina: 36 year old woman arrested for sex trafficking teenager, including posing nude in photos together in ads.
North Carolina: Four arrested for sex trafficking adults in Greensboro, NC.
South Carolina: 26 year old man indicted for sex trafficking at least 3 adults and one minor.
Washington: Pimp and his bottom girl (a minor) were arrested for sex trafficking another minor they recruited to join them during the All-Star Game. She told her father she was being held against her will, and he was able to report it to the police.
Kansas: Two men, age 38 and 23 were arrested for sex trafficking a runaway 14 year old girl in area hotels.
Kentucky: Man arrested for sex trafficking a woman, including threatening to kill her family or destroy her property if she didn’t comply. He controled the ad posting and scheduling of sexual acts, and kept the money which he used for drugs.
Michigan: 29 year old man arrested for sex trafficking a minor, and creating and recieving child pornography.
South Carolina: Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for trafficking 9 victims, including 1 minor, from 2016-2020, including using narcotics to control the victims.
South Carolina: Co-conspirator sentenced to 41 months in prison for human trafficking conspiracy from 2016-2020. He was the driver transporting the victims and could also have been charged with human trafficking for transporting the victims.
Kansas: Man and woman arrested for labor trafficking 29 migrants, including at least 5 minors. Victims were transported to the location of exploitation and kept in unsafe and insufficient housing.
New Jersey: Boston market to close 27 of 31 locations over workers rights violations, including over $600,000 in wage theft and unpaid wages.
New York: Nail salon chain, Envy Nails, required to pay over $300,000 in back wages to employees for unpaid wages during 2015-2021. They also had multiple improperly registered corporate entities, and millions of dollars of underreported taxes.
New York: KDE Equine LLC, doing business as Steve Asmussen Stables, is settling on wage violations for the fourth time with the Department of Labor. They prey on H2-B visa workers, and not meeting employer requirements for those visas.
Utah: The former president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation investigated for allegations of fraud and human trafficking following an altercation that left one of his farmworkers in need of medical care. The incident is also raising questions about whether the H-2A visa program meant to help U.S. farmers fill employment gaps with migrant workers needs to be re-examined. He has resigned since his arrest for assault, and is actively being investigated for fraud and human trafficking.
Virginia: 3 men and 1 woman were arrested for labor trafficking adults and children in their commercial laundry business, Northstar Holdings of VA, doing business as Magnolia Cleaning Services. They directly smuggled their victims from El Salvador, created false documents for the victims, and depriving them of wages, using physical force to control them and coering them with threats of deportation or homelessness. The minor, 13, was made to work at night while attending school during the day.
Washington: Ostroom Mushroom Farms was found by the Department of Labor to have failed to pay foreign workers, and violated employer requirements for H2-A visa workers, including charging workers for visas and failing to provide promised housing.
New Mexico: Attorney General’s office investigating wage theft and human labor trafficking at a New Mexico Cannibis farm.
North Carolina: R&R Construction Maintenance is ordered to pay over $800,000 in backwages for foreign workers that were illegally paid piece-rate wages instead of legal wages.
Texas: Texas Workforce Commission years behind on recovering back wages for workers. While nearly $99 million in wages were ordered across more than 57,000 cases from 2010 to 2020, 80% of those payments have yet to be received by workers.
Texas and Louisiana: McDonald’s franchise hired more than 80 minors, including at least 72 who were 14 and 16 years old, scheduling them to work longer than federally permitted, and operating dangerous machinery like deep fryers.
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Texas: Two victims of massage parlor trafficking were arrested in Abilene alongside the owner of the parlor, all for misdemeanors. No trafficking charges have been filed.
Texas: In Harris County, woman working in massage parlor arrested for prostitution with no charges brought against the business for human trafficking or business-related violations.
West Virginia: Massage parlor owners arrested for human trafficking after community tips reported women were dropped off, didn’t leave, and appeared to be controlled. Additional details are available at this article.

Oklahoma: At least 10 potential victims were arrested in multiple massage parlors. No parlor owners, managers, or businesses were investigated for human trafficking.
Louisiana: Six victims of human trafficking, between the ages of 54 and 67, arrested across multiple massage parlors. Though four parlors were closed, businesses, owners, and managers were not investigated for employment practices, human trafficking, or zoning violations.

Nebraska: Buyer in a pedophile-ring trafficking case sentenced to 25-35 years for sexually assaulting the minor victim. Her trafficker was sentenced in 2021 to 176.5-304 years for trafficking.
Missouri: Four buyers arrested in an undercover prostitution operation in collaboration with the State Police, HSI, and Pettis County Prosecutor’s office.
Montana: 6 men arrested for attempting to purchase sex, including at least one attempting to purchase sexual access to children
Michigan: 7 Michigan men and one Indiana man arrested for prostitution related charges.
Illinois: 8 men arrested for attempting to purchase sex, at least 6 of which were arrested for attempting to purchase sexual access to children

Maine: State passed “Equality Model” decriminalization of potential victims while maintaining criminalization of sex buyers.


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