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Kevin Smith, 27, is accused of "knowingly recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, and maintaining" a minor for the purpose of forcing them into prostitution for about a week in September 2019, according to Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
Investigators also allege that Smith operated a sex trafficking ring various times over a period of two years from July 2015 to July 2017, authorities said.
During that time he physically threatened three different young adult victims to have sex for money, Williams said.
“The crimes Smith is accused of committing are some of the most devastating to victims that our office prosecutes,” Williams said.
“Allegedly, this defendant forced four young people, one a minor child, to sell their bodies for his financial gain. We will continue to work collectively to investigate these destructive crimes against the most vulnerable victims.”
“Using physical threats to control another human being, to force them into sexual exploitation, is unconscionable,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.
“Kevin Smith allegedly did just that to three young women — and a child. The FBI will never stop working to find and help trafficked victims, to protect them from further abuse and keep their traffickers from hurting anyone else.”
If convicted, Smith faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the Bensalem Police Department, the Media Borough Police Department, the Tinicum Township Police Department, and the Philadelphia Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Metcalf and Brittany Jones.
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