Tag:

Human trafficking

Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA
Two Men Charged In Berks County Underage Human Trafficking Sting: DA Two men have been charged in connection with an undercover operation targeting underage human trafficking in Berks County, authorities announced on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. Keith George Manwiller, 49, of Hummelstown, and Mathew Christian Koroma, 23, of Sinking Spring, were arrested during the sting conducted by the Berks County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force, according to Chief County Detective Michael Gombar. Both men are accused of responding to online ads placed by detectives on websites commonly used for sexual advertisements. The suspects allegedly agreed to meet and p…
Former PA Senate Chaplain Charged In Sex Trafficking Sting Former PA Senate Chaplain Charged In Sex Trafficking Sting
Former PA Senate Chaplain Charged In Sex Trafficking Sting A Cumberland County pastor faces serious charges after allegedly patronizing a massage parlor at the center of a human trafficking investigation, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice Wednesday, Nov. 27. Stephen Robert Melton, 65, of Mechanicsburg, a pastor at Big Spring Presbyterian Church in Newville, is accused of paying for sex acts at least 68 times over five months at GL Massage Spa in Carlisle. The charges, filed by the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, include: Felony Patronizing a Victim of Human Trafficking with Reckless Disregard Misdemeanor…
PA Doctor Accused Of Exploiting 13-Year-Old Girl, Possessing Child Pornography PA Doctor Accused Of Exploiting 13-Year-Old Girl, Possessing Child Pornography
PA Doctor Accused Of Exploiting 13-Year-Old Girl, Possessing Child Pornography ** Warning: The following details may be disturbing to some readers. ** A former Lancaster County family medicine physician is facing felony charges for sexually exploiting a 13-year-old girl and possessing child pornography, according to police, public records, and court documents. Frank Yang Liu, 33, of Manheim, was charged after an investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department (NLCRPD), and Lancaster County detectives. Authorities allege Liu used Instagram to exchange explicit messages and images …
Father-Daughter Who Led Human Trafficking Ring Arrested: PA AG Father-Daughter Who Led Human Trafficking Ring Arrested: PA AG
Father-Daughter Who Led Human Trafficking Ring Arrested: PA AG A father and daughter who authorities say was the leader of a long-running human trafficking ring have been arrested, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Terrance L. Jones, 52, has been arrested leading to the disbanding of the Philadelphia-based human trafficking ring and charges against 22 people, according to PA AG. Jones had posed as a woman, known as Julia, to recruit commercial sex workers, who were then taken to and from "dates" by drivers Jones hired, the attorney general's office said. He ran the operation from his residence from 2012 through …
Bethlehem Man Gets 5 Years For Sexually Assaulting Girl He Met On Snapchat: Prosecutor Bethlehem Man Gets 5 Years For Sexually Assaulting Girl He Met On Snapchat: Prosecutor
Bethlehem Man Gets 5 Years For Sexually Assaulting Girl He Met On Snapchat: Prosecutor A 33-year-old Bethlehem, PA man was sentenced to five years in New Jersey State Prison on Friday, Sept. 27, after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 2022, authorities said. Garry Bunting was initially charged with human trafficking of a minor, sexual assault, and other offenses in January 2022 after he met up with a 16-year-old girl he talked to on Snapchat, took her from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, and “engaged her in multiple sexual acts,” the Warren County Prosecutor's Office said. Bunting also pled guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and attempted enda…
PA Man Took 5-Year-Old To VA, NY For Sex: USDOJ PA Man Took 5-Year-Old To VA, NY For Sex: USDOJ
PA Man Took 5-Year-Old To VA, NY For Sex: Usdoj A 54-year-old Pennsylvania man has been sentenced after admitting to taking a 5-year-old girl for sex in Virginia and New York, the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday, Sept. 25.  John Oathout, of Harrisburg, PA, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes in Syracuse, NY on Friday, Sept. 20. He'll serve 25 years in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release, and he'll be a registered sex offender for the remainder of his life, according to the USDOJ release.  Oathout admitted to taking the 5-year-old girl on trips out of state w…
Bethlehem Man Paid $24K+ To Filipino Child Sex Traffickers: USDOJ Bethlehem Man Paid $24K+ To Filipino Child Sex Traffickers: USDOJ
Bethlehem Man Paid $24K+ To Filipino Child Sex Traffickers: Usdoj A 49-year-old Pennsylvania man has been sentenced for paying and directing "livestreamed sexual abuse of Filipino children," the US Department of Justice announced on Friday night, Aug. 2.  Harold "Harry" C. Daleus (also known as Dalaeus), Jr., 49, of Bethlehem, was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release for the production of child pornography and related offenses, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero detailed in the release.  Daleus sent over $24,000 to the Philippines over several years, "in order to view the live transmiss…
Pimp Admits Trafficking Aspiring Teen Model, Lancaster DA Says Pimp Admits Trafficking Aspiring Teen Model, Lancaster DA Says
Pimp Admits Trafficking Aspiring Teen Model, Lancaster DA Says The first man captured by the Lancaster County Human Trafficking Task Force has been sentenced after confessing to his crimes, the District Attorney announced on Monday, April 8. More than two years after his arrest, Louis Fountain, 34 of Brookhaven, Delaware County pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking individuals, four counts of promoting prostitution, and one count of living off prostitutes before Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth on March 29, as detailed in the release. Judge Ashworth sentenced him to serve a "prison term of one year, 11 months, and eight d…
Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Gets 22 Years For Ordering Jailhouse 'Hit' On Witness Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Gets 22 Years For Ordering Jailhouse 'Hit' On Witness
Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Gets 22 Years For Ordering Jailhouse 'Hit' On Witness A Reading man facing an ongoing human trafficking case could spend up to two decades in prison for ordering a jailhouse hit on a testifying witness, authorities say.  Dushawn Ellis was sentenced to 8 to 22 years behind bars on Monday, Feb. 26 for witness intimidation and obstruction of justice, said the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.  Investigators have said Ellis, 34, was in custody at the Berks County Prison when he offered another inmate $20,000 to assassinate the witness. The other inmate was an acquaintance of the witness and told him about the offer, accor…
VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA
VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA A Virginia man who pleaded guilty in connection to traveling to Pennsylvania to have sex with a child has been sentenced, the Lancaster County District Attorney's office announced on Tuesday, Feb. 20.  Tanner Iskra, 38 of the 2100 block of Harpoon Drive, Stafford, VA, pleaded guilty in Sept. 2023 to attempted statutory sexual assault (11 years older), attempted corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility, DA Heather Adams detailed in the release.  Iskra was sentenced to 11-23 months in prison, eight years of probation, and he must register as a sex offender …
Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says
Undercover Bust: 5 People Seeking Sex With Teens Met By Detectives In Berks County, DA Says Five people seeking sex with teens have been arrested in an undercover Berks County sting, authorities said. All five individuals responded to an ad, posted on Monday, Jan. 19 by detectives, offering sex with 14- and 15-year-old juveniles at various locations in Berks County, the county district attorney's office announced. The individuals agreed to meet up and have sex with the "teens," but instead were met by detectives and promptly arrested, District Attorney John T. Adams said. The following arrests were made, according to Adams: Richard Keene, 70, of Reading, charged with Traff…
Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment
Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment An ex-con who was captured after a 15-year-old victim escaped from a South Jersey hotel room was indicted on a host of charges that include human trafficking, promoting prostitution and sexually assaulting minors, authorities announced on Thursday. 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…
Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Ordered 'Hit' On Witness From Jail: AG Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Ordered 'Hit' On Witness From Jail: AG
Alleged Reading Human Trafficker Ordered 'Hit' On Witness From Jail: AG A Reading man accused in a human trafficking case was found guilty of ordering a "hit" on a testifying witness, according to prosecutors.  Dushawn O. Ellis, 34, was convicted by a Berks County jury Wednesday, Dec. 7 on charges of witness intimidation and obstruction of justice, said the state Attorney General's Office.  Ellis was in custody at the Berks County Prison when investigators say he offered another inmate $20,000 to assassinate the witness. The same day, authorities said he used "technology available to him inside the prison" to video call the witness and make the threat…
15 Men Caught In Undercover Sting At Central PA Hotel 15 Men Caught In Undercover Sting At Central PA Hotel
15 Men Caught In Undercover Sting At Central PA Hotel Fifteen men from across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Colorado have been arrested while allegedly trying to meet with prostitutes at a Central Pennsylvania hotel. Instead of finding the women, the men thought they had communicated with to arrange for sex in exchange for cash, they found the Cumberland County Human Trafficking Task Force waiting to take them into custody, according to a release by the Cumberland County District Attorney's office on Wednesday, Oct. 4.  The men had really been in contact with undercover officers with the task force as they conducted "Operation Impact …
PA 'Asian' Massage Parlor Raid Turns Human Trafficking Ring Bust: DA PA 'Asian' Massage Parlor Raid Turns Human Trafficking Ring Bust: DA
PA 'Asian' Massage Parlor Raid Turns Human Trafficking Ring Bust: DA A 12-agency joint investigation has led to the downfall of a large-scale human trafficking ring across three Central Pennsylvania counties, authorities announced on Friday, Sept. 1. The sex and human trafficking ring was broken up by a year-long operation: Closed2Trafficking, which targeted 10 massage parlors in York, Dauphin, and Cumberland counties. District Attorney Sean McCormack released the following statement on the operation: “Since we began these operations targeting sex buyers who drive the demand for commercial sex, we have arrested 45 individuals. Every single dollar that …
985K+ Fentanyl Pills, Child Porn Found In New Mexico Human Trafficker's Storage Unit In PA: DA 985K+ Fentanyl Pills, Child Porn Found In New Mexico Human Trafficker's Storage Unit In PA: DA
985K+ Fentanyl Pills, Child Porn Found In New Mexico Human Trafficker's Storage Unit In PA: DA A convicted human trafficker from New Mexico has been linked to a Lancaster County storage unit with nearly 1,000 fentanyl pills, an illegal firearm, and a cellphone full of child pornography, according to the county's District attorney's office. Martin Alvarado Jr., 33, most recently of Lancaster, PA, previously Las Cruces, NM, was on probation after a negotiated guilty plea in 2022 for Intentional Possession of a Controlled Substance by a Person Not Registered for a Lancaster offense at the time when the items were found in a storage unit in his name in the 1500 block of Cloister…
Police Nab Suspected Human Trafficker In Wyomissing Police Nab Suspected Human Trafficker In Wyomissing
Police Nab Suspected Human Trafficker In Wyomissing A New York man is charged with human trafficking and prostitution after federal and local authorities say they caught him with a victim at a Berks County hotel.  Police in Wyomissing were contacted by Homeland Security Investigations agents in Allentown that a possible victim of human trafficking was staying in the area on Wednesday, April 12, the District Attorney's Office said in a release.  Investigating the tip, Berks County Human Trafficking Task Force came across an "advertisement for (the victim) on a website commonly known for the sex trade," the DA's Office said.  A…
Eight Suspects Arrested In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting: DA Eight Suspects Arrested In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting: DA
Eight Suspects Arrested In Berks County Human Trafficking Sting: DA The Berks County District Attorney's Office reports eight arrests following a two-day human trafficking sting operation, officials announced.  On Monday and Tuesday, March 13 and 14, the DA's Human Trafficking Task Force seeded advertisements across "websites commonly used for sex trade," offering "sexual relations with minors at a predetermined location in Berks County," prosecutors said in a release.  Throughout the course of the two days, eight individuals showed up to the rendezvous site and were arrested, DA John T. Adams said.  “The harsh reality is that human tra…
CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics
Climate OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics A Jersey Shore doctor must pay $642,212 to two undocumented women from India whose true identities she hid for eight years while harboring them as unpaid domestics, federal authorities said. Harsha Sahni, 66, of Tinton Falls, also must cover $200,000 worth of treatment of a brain aneurysm that one of the women suffered while they worked in her and her family's homes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Federal prosecutors required the payments as part of a plea deal that allowed Sahni to avoid the potential consequences of a conviction at a trial, the U.S. attorney said. In exchange, S…
Berks Man Guilty Of Human Trafficking, AG Says Berks Man Guilty Of Human Trafficking, AG Says
Berks Man Guilty Of Human Trafficking, AG Says A Berks County man awaits sentencing after being convicted of human trafficking, says acting Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry.  Hector Rivera, 51, of Leesport, first began selling drugs to his victim in 2019, prosecutors said, citing a Grand Jury investigation.  But when she ran out of cash, authorities say Rivera forced her to "perform sexual acts on himself and other men in exchange for crack cocaine." Prosecutors highlighted an April 2020 incident where Rivera brought his victim to a Reading motel and coerced her into "multiple appointments for commercial sex acts" …
Jersey Shore Man Admits Recording Himself Sexually Assaulting Young Girl, Then Sharing It Jersey Shore Man Admits Recording Himself Sexually Assaulting Young Girl, Then Sharing It
Jersey Shore Man Admits Recording Himself Sexually Assaulting Young Girl, Then Sharing It A Jersey Shore man admitted recording himself sexually assaulting a young girl who authorities said was under 8 years old. FBI agents zeroed in on Christian Importuna, 27, of Englishtown, when he tried trading the videos with what turned out to be an undercover detective in March 2020, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. One of the videos shows a girl who appears less than 8 years old giving him oral sex, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court says. In the other, he is rubbing the crotch of a sleeping child who may be the same girl, it says. FBI investigators “linked the videos to…
Three Nabbed In Undercover Berks County Prostitution Sting Three Nabbed In Undercover Berks County Prostitution Sting
Three Nabbed In Undercover Berks County Prostitution Sting Three men were arrested in Berks County as part of an undercover prostitution sting, authorities said. Members of the Berks County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force said the sting, which happened on Tuesday, Sept. 13, targeted "Johns" in the county. Undercover detectives operated the investigation by placing ads on websites commonly used for sexual advertisements, they said. Three men responded to the ads, and agreed to meet and have sex with children between the ages of 13 and 15 at a hotel in the county in exchange for money, authorities said. When the "Johns" arrived at…
10 Pennsylvania Men Caught By Undercover Police In Sex Sting: DA 10 Pennsylvania Men Caught By Undercover Police In Sex Sting: DA
10 Pennsylvania Men Caught By Undercover Police In Sex Sting: DA Ten central Pennsylvania men were caught in an undercover sex sting at an area hotel, the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office announced on Thursday, Sept. 15.  The following men answered an online advertisement for sex and arrived at a Hampden Township hotel only to end up paying undercover officers: John Duncan, age 69, Carlisle  Andrew Monelli, age 25, Carlisle  Jerry Moreno, age 21, Harrisburg  Michael Myers, age 47, Carlisle  Hayatullah Parwani, age 26, Harrisburg  Dennis Stoner, age 62, Mechanicsburg  Prakash Sunam, age 25, Dillsburg  M…
Human Traffickers Forced Victims Into Sex At Fortified Brothels In Asbury, Trenton, NJ AG Says Human Traffickers Forced Victims Into Sex At Fortified Brothels In Asbury, Trenton, NJ AG Says
Human Traffickers Forced Victims Into Sex At Fortified Brothels In Asbury, Trenton, NJ AG Says Customers bought poker chips to have sex with an underage girl and women who were forced into prostitution against their will by a human trafficking ring that operated out of Monmouth and Mercer counties, authorities said. New Jersey State Police watched 10 men enter a Hudson Street home in Trenton through the back door and then exit 15 to 20 minutes later one January night, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. A man then came out and locked the gate, the attorney general said. A search-warranted raid later that night included members of the State Police T.E.A.M.S. Unit, K-9 Un…
11-Year-Old Among Hundreds Of Nationwide Sexploitation Victims Rescued By FBI, Local Agencies 11-Year-Old Among Hundreds Of Nationwide Sexploitation Victims Rescued By FBI, Local Agencies
11-Year-Old Among Hundreds Of Nationwide Sexploitation Victims Rescued By FBI, Local Agencies FBI agents based in New Jersey teamed up with local, county and state authorities to rescue five sexually exploited teenagers who were among hundreds of victims located or identified during a two-week nationwide blitz. The New Jersey joint FBI operation with State Police, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and police from Newark, Jersey City and Morris Township was part of a nationwide enforcement campaign dubbed “Operation Cross Country.” Across the United States, similar operations the first two weeks in August identified and located a total of 84 minor victims of child sex traffickin…
PA Man Who Sex Trafficked 15-Year-Old Girl Learns His Fate PA Man Who Sex Trafficked 15-Year-Old Girl Learns His Fate
PA Man Who Sex Trafficked 15-Year-Old Girl Learns His Fate A Philadelphia man who sex-trafficked a 15-year-old girl was sentenced Monday, June 6 to 17 to 40 years in state prison, authorities said. Andrew Hall, 29, pleaded guilty on Feb. 28 to a slew of charges, including human trafficking of a minor, statutory sexual assault of a minor, promoting prostitution of a minor, and photographing child sex acts, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. Hall was arrested on Aug. 21, 2020, when Bensalem police officers were called around 12:30 a.m. to the Best Western on the 3400 block of Street Road on a report of child prostitut…
NJ Transgender Family Used Daughter, 7, To Make Fetishized Porn (SENTENCING) NJ Transgender Family Used Daughter, 7, To Make Fetishized Porn (SENTENCING)
NJ Transgender Family Used Daughter, 7, To Make Fetishized Porn (Sentencing) A mom and three accomplices were sentenced to a combined 67 years in prison for sexually abusing the woman's 7-year-old daughter to make "amateur, BDSM and taboo fetish" pornography in the child's New Jersey home, authorities said. Marina Volz (aka Matthew Volz, 32), Ashley Romero (aka Adam Romero), 28), Sean Allen, 54, and Dulcinea Gnecco, 21, were sentenced by Somerset County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Tober on Friday, May 6,  Acting Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said. The investigation into the four began in January 2019, when an anonymous caller contacted the New Jersey Divis…
PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say
PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say An 18-year-old girl who wanted to become a model was lured into prostitution by a man who claimed to be her boyfriend. Lancaster County detectives first learned about this girl after seeing an advertisement online “listing a female who was performing sex acts for money in Lancaster,” according to a release by the district attorney’s office. The detectives texted the number in the ad and agreed to pay $260 to spend an hour with the female at a hotel in Lancaster City on Mar. 1, 2022, the release details. The undercover detective met the girl, gave her the money, and discussed what sex ac…
Queens Livery Driver Who Travelled To Cape May For Sex With Underage Girl Gets 19½ Years Queens Livery Driver Who Travelled To Cape May For Sex With Underage Girl Gets 19½ Years
Queens Livery Driver Who Travelled To Cape May For Sex With Underage Girl Gets 19½ Years A livery driver who traveled more than 300 miles roundtrip between his Queens home and Cape May for sex with an underage girl was sentenced to 19½ years in federal prison. Richard Gabriel Piedra Ordonez, 37, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Piedra pretended to be 19 when he began communicating with the under-16 girl on Snapchat and other social media and messaging platforms, U.S. Attorney Phillip Sellinger said. Over the next several months, by his own admission, Piedra drove to New Jersey for sex and twice…
Undercover Detective Nabs 14 'Johns' In PA Prostitution Ring Undercover Detective Nabs 14 'Johns' In PA Prostitution Ring
Undercover Detective Nabs 14 'Johns' In PA Prostitution Ring An online ad and a local hotel helped lay a thirst trap for police to capture 14 so-called "Johns" who participated in a sex trafficking ring in Pennsylvania. The Lancaster County Human Trafficking Task Force, launched on January 11, but in less than 2 months it has successfully completed it's operation, Lancaster County media specialist Sean McBryan says in a statement released on Thursday, Mar. 24. After the task placed the ad online, the undercover female detective answered over 100 "Johns" who replied to the online ad— all in about eight hours on Mar. 10, McBryan says. Some of the res…
WV Man Drove North Jersey Girl To Maryland To Sexually Assault Her, Left Her In PA: Prosecutor WV Man Drove North Jersey Girl To Maryland To Sexually Assault Her, Left Her In PA: Prosecutor
WV Man Drove North Jersey Girl To Maryland To Sexually Assault Her, Left Her In PA: Prosecutor A West Virginia man has been charged with human trafficking after he picked up a 14-year-old North Jersey girl he had promised a relationship with, drove to Maryland to sexually assault her, and abandoned her in Pennsylvania when he learned that she had been reported missing, authorities announced. Chad C. Corbin, Jr. was charged with first- and second-degree human trafficking, conspiracy to commit human trafficking, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, luring, and child endangerment, Warren County Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer said on Tuesday, March 15. Corbin, now …