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Nieem Johnson, 40, whose last known address was in Philadelphia, was arrested in Atlantic City last Aug. 31 following a months-long state investigation, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
A second victim was rescued during the arrest, Platkin said in a Jan. 18 release.
“The allegations in the indictment – holding two victims in a state of involuntary servitude, advertising their availability for sex acts, and engaging in sex acts with a minor — are abhorrent,” the attorney general said.
Given a criminal history that includes similar offenses, Johnson faces a lengthy federal prison sentence if convicted.
Johnson had fled charges of selling an 18-year-old woman for sex in Philadelphia and was pimping another woman at a Red Roof Inn in Mount Laurel when U.S. Marshals tracked him down and captured him in 2014.
The new case was made by detectives from the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Missing Persons and Human Trafficking Unit, NJSP Special Investigations Unit and the state Department of Criminal Justice, Platkin said.
The probe began after a 15-year-old girl fled a Bordentown hotel room to police on March 3, 2023, the attorney said.
Johnson "transported the victim to the hotel against her will to engage in commercial sex acts," Platkin said.
Detectives discovered an online advertisement posted by Johnson offering the juvenile for prostitution, he said.
While arresting him, authorities rescued a second female victim whom they said he forced into prostitution against her will, Platkin said.
Johnson "used threats and physical violence, including choking the second victim by grabbing her around the neck, pushing her against a wall, and lifting her off the ground by her neck, to coerce her into remaining in the sex trade for his financial gain," the attorney general said.
Platkin on Thursday announced the 16-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton.
It charges Johnson with two first-degree counts each of human trafficking and facilitating human trafficking, three counts of sexual assault and single counts of aggravated assault and engaging in prostitution with a minor, among other offenses.
Authorities also arrested an alleged customer, Thomas Fulcher, 54, of Marlton, on charges of sexual assault and engaging in prostitution with a minor. Fulcher was released pending court action and was expected to testify against Johnson if necessary as part of a potential plea bargain.
Johnson, meanwhile, has remained held until trial in the Atlantic County Correctional Facility in Mays Landing.
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