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Jose Torres, 45, refused to pay those who accepted the offer and often raped and beat any who pressed him for the money, according to an indictment that led to his conviction on Wednesday, Oct. 11, following a six-day trial.
Jurors in federal court in Newark found Torres guilty of four counts of persuading, inducing, and enticing women to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
For more than four years, Torres trolled prostitution websites and targeted out-of-state sex workers whom he lured to the Garden State with promises of big money, the U.S. attorney said.
Most of them he met through EROS, Erotic Monkey, Tryst and Backpage, federal investigators said.
Torres picked the majority of the women up at Newark Airport after they paid their own way, then drove them either to his home or to a motel, federal investigators said.
Asked for payment, they said, Torres refused and often assaulted and raped his victims.
One woman was promised $20,000 to $30,000 a month to fly to the United States from Canada at least twice a month to be Torres’s private escort, according to a federal complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark.
She, like the others, never got paid.
Torres picked her up at the airport in October 2019 and took her to a hotel in East Brunswick, federal agents said.
When she asked for her money, Torres told the victim that he was a police officer, then “forced her to engage in rough sexual intercourse, which included slapping her in the face, choking her and calling her derogatory names,” according to the federal complaint.
Torres convinced another woman to take a cab from New York City before he picked her up, drove her to his house and pretended to transfer money to her on his laptop, the complaint says.
After they’d had sex, it says, the woman “became uncomfortable due to Torres's aggressive behavior and asked to leave."
He refused, then slapped, choked and raped the woman, who complied out of fear for her life, according to the complaint. The next morning, she took a cab back to the city, it says.
“During the investigation, law enforcement learned that Torres has victimized other commercial sex workers in a similar fashion,” the federal complaint says.
U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti scheduled Torres's sentencing for Feb. 27, 2024.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI and special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark with the investigation leading to the guilty verdict, which was secured by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emma Spiro and Shawn Barnes of his Criminal Division in Newark.
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