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Human Trafficking Hindu Temple Suit Expands From NJ To 4 More States (PHOTOS) Human Trafficking Hindu Temple Suit Expands From NJ To 4 More States (PHOTOS)
Human Trafficking Hindu Temple Suit Expands From NJ To 4 More States (Photos) Workers accusing a Hindu organization of human trafficking at a New Jersey temple has expanded to four more states, according to the Associated Press. The suit filed in May alleges that leaders of organization Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) forced them into signing employment agreements to build a Robbinsville, NJ temple for as little as $1.20 a day, and then made them work more than 12 hours a day with no days off under security guards' watch, the AP says. Click here for photos from a Diwali celebration at the sprawling New Jersey temple. The lawsuit was …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Jersey City Police Officer Admits Going To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App Jersey City Police Officer Admits Going To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App
Jersey City Police Officer Admits Going To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App A disgraced Jersey City police officer admitted Thursday that he drove to Atlantic City expecting to have sex with two girls – one 8, the other 10 -- for $200. Stephen Wilson, 34, of Bayonne will be sentenced to eight years in state prison in exchange for his guilty plea before a Superior Court judge in Mays Landing on Thursday to attempted aggravated sexual assault, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. Wilson was carrying condoms and $500 in cash when State Police and federal Homeland Security agents arrested him this past February, Bruck said. He’d agre…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
North Jersey Spa Closes For Human Trafficking, Prostitution Investigation North Jersey Spa Closes For Human Trafficking, Prostitution Investigation
North Jersey Spa Closes For Human Trafficking, Prostitution Investigation A North Jersey spa has been shut down indefinitely following allegations of prostitution and human trafficking, authorities said. Authorities closed the Byram Spa on Route 206 in Stanhope on June 23 after police and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark determined that the business was operating an “unapproved and illegal massage establishment most likely used for prostitution,” authorities said Thursday. The initial investigation also cited concerns involving “potential human trafficking violations,” police said. The owner of the property where the spa is located remained coop…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Deportee Who Raped Paterson Girl, 15, After Illegally Re-Entering US Gets 7¾ Years Deportee Who Raped Paterson Girl, 15, After Illegally Re-Entering US Gets 7¾ Years
Deportee Who Raped Paterson Girl, 15, After Illegally Re-Entering US Gets 7¾ Years UPDATE: A deportee who snuck back into the U.S. and was living illegally in Paterson was sentenced Tuesday to 95 months in federal prison for raping a 15-year-old city girl. Juan Carlos Morales-Pedraza, a 35-year-old Mexican citizen who was born in Ecuador, had been deported in 2010, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. He'd re-entered the United States when he approached the girl in Passaic County in April 2019, had sex with her, then took her with him on a planned trip to Chicago, Honig said. They never made it that far, however. An Ohio state trooper pulled Morales-Pedraza’s 201…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Grand Jury Indicts Convicted Rapist Accused Of Riding Bus 1,450 Miles To AC Motel For Kid Sex Grand Jury Indicts Convicted Rapist Accused Of Riding Bus 1,450 Miles To AC Motel For Kid Sex
Grand Jury Indicts Convicted Rapist Accused Of Riding Bus 1,450 Miles To AC Motel For Kid Sex A convicted rapist took a bus from Oklahoma to Atlantic City to meet two men he thought were bringing their pre-teen daughters for sex, an indictment returned by a state grand jury says. The “dads” turned out to be undercover members of the New Jersey State Police and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. Aaron D. Craiger, 34, of Oklahoma City originally was arrested in March 2020 after he checked into a motel with condoms and pot that he wanted to smoke with the “girls,” ages 11 and 12, the indictment returned Friday in Trenton says. He has remained in custody since then. SEE: Oklahoma …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution
NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution A Trenton woman who cruelly forced an underage girl into prostitution must spend at least 20 years in state prison before she’ll be eligible for parole. Superior Court Judge Darlene J. Pereksta on Thursday sentenced Ashley Gardener, 32, for a series of jury convictions for human trafficking, promoting prostitution and child endangerment, among other crimes. Pereksta sentenced Gardener to 50 years altogether, 40% of which she must serve before she can seek a parole hearing.  It marked the final chapter in what authorities said was a prime example of a crime that occurs “in the shadows,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities: Jersey City Officer Went To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App Authorities: Jersey City Officer Went To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App
Authorities: Jersey City Officer Went To AC To Have Sex With Young Girls Found On Incest App A Jersey City police officer drove to Atlantic City expecting to have sex with two girls – ages 8 and 10 -- for $200, state authorities charged. Stephen Wilson, 34, of Bayonne was carrying condoms and $500 in cash when State Police and federal Homeland Security agents arrested him in a parking lot of the city known as “The World’s Playground,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Wilson had agreed to bring the condoms to a meeting there with adults who Grewal said “offered him access to the girls” after they connected on an incest app. He was charged with conspiracy to commit huma…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities Smash International Sex-Trafficking Ring In NJ, NY, Rescue Dozens Of Victims Authorities Smash International Sex-Trafficking Ring In NJ, NY, Rescue Dozens Of Victims
Authorities Smash International Sex-Trafficking Ring In NJ, NY, Rescue Dozens Of Victims More than 50 women were forced into prostitution in North Jersey, Rockland County and New York City by male members of a large-scale international human trafficking ring run by three women from Teaneck and two men from Lodi, authorities said . A massive investigation into sex trafficking in both states culminated in a series of early-morning raids Wednesday at 19 homes and other locations in Bergen and Hudson counties – including Lodi, Teaneck, Englewood, Elmwood Park and Bergenfield. Detectives and uniformed police and sheriff's officers arrested 21 ring members. They also obtained a fug…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities: Released Gun Offender Charged With Prostituting Girl, 16, At Trenton Hotel Authorities: Released Gun Offender Charged With Prostituting Girl, 16, At Trenton Hotel
Authorities: Released Gun Offender Charged With Prostituting Girl, 16, At Trenton Hotel A Trenton man who was released after he was caught with three handguns and a missing 16-year-old girl following a high-speed police chase and crash was charged with prostituting the underage teen at a local hotel, state authorities announced. Ronald D. Harris, 40, originally was arrested on weapons charges by Trenton police and New Jersey State Police in July, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Monday. Harris had fled a traffic stop, hitting an unmarked police vehicle with his car, running a red light and hitting speeds of up to 80 miles an hour before it slammed into a taxi,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Retired NJ Corrections Officer, Couple Charged In Sex Trafficking Of Girl, 14 Retired NJ Corrections Officer, Couple Charged In Sex Trafficking Of Girl, 14
Retired NJ Corrections Officer, Couple Charged In Sex Trafficking Of Girl, 14 A retired New Jersey corrections officer paid a couple for sex with a 14-year-old girl who was trafficked at an Atlantic City casino hotel, authorities charged. The girl was rescued when she showed up at the hotel after undercover State Police detectives responded to an online escort ad, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Wednesday. Authorities later that day arrested Derrick V. Ross, 27, of Atlantic City, who Grewal said brought the girl to the hotel to have sex for money – and often sexually assaulted her himself. Also arrested was Tiffany N. Davis, 39, of Egg Harbor Township, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Accused NJ Armed Robber Among Pair Who Used Drugs To Force Woman Into Prostitution Authorities: Accused NJ Armed Robber Among Pair Who Used Drugs To Force Woman Into Prostitution
Authorities: Accused NJ Armed Robber Among Pair Who Used Drugs To Force Woman Into Prostitution Two men including one arrested for an armed robbery have been charged with using drugs to force a woman into prostitution for more than month in North Jersey, authorities said. William Wilson, 47, of Belvidere, NJ and Jeremiah Forde, 39, of Budd Lake, forced the adult female into acts of prostitution out of a Hanover hotel, then collected the proceeds, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker, Hanover Police Chief Mark Roddy said. The pair used drugs to manipulate the victim, who was afraid to leave the hotel due to fear of being physic…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Authorities: Man Rapes Woman In Parsippany Motel After Months Of Abuse, Forced Prostitution Authorities: Man Rapes Woman In Parsippany Motel After Months Of Abuse, Forced Prostitution
Authorities: Man Rapes Woman In Parsippany Motel After Months Of Abuse, Forced Prostitution An Essex County man raped a woman and threatened to hurt her family in a Morris County motel this weekend after months of abuse and forced prostitution, authorities said. Mcquacy Goodridge, 28, of West Orange, verbally and physically abused a 31-year-old woman while taking her all across Morris County and forcing her into acts of prostitution between March 2019 and Aug. 15, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp said in a joint release with local police. Police responded to the Ramada on Route 46 for a person being held in a room around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, just after Goodridge threa…

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by Cecilia Levine