Pennsylvania Lawyer Normal Michelle Henry and the Pennsylvania State Police introduced the arrests of twenty-two folks related to a long-standing, Philadelphia-based human trafficking ring on Oct. 22, 2024.
This investigation is the primary of its type in Pennsylvania. That’s as a result of it focused not solely the suspected chief of the trafficking ring, however all prongs of the enterprise, together with the alleged monetary supervisor, drivers and prospects, or “johns.”
I’m the director of the Institute to Handle Business Sexual Exploitation at Villanova College Charles Widger Faculty of Regulation. Beforehand, I used to be an assistant district legal professional in Philadelphia. In that function, I pioneered a program that inspired a bunch of native, state and federal legislation enforcement companies to collaboratively examine and prosecute allegations of human trafficking within the metropolis.
So far, investigations into intercourse trafficking in Pennsylvania have occurred in silos. Regulation enforcement usually engages in stand-alone operations, or “prostitution stings,” that solely goal both the demand or the provision – the intercourse consumers or intercourse sellers. Different operations solely goal the traffickers.
Whereas arresting consumers of intercourse is an efficient approach to scale back industrial sexual exploitation, it is just one piece of the puzzle. The traffickers and facilitators are one other.
Focusing on the provision is a extra complicated situation. As a result of overlap between folks in prostitution and victims of trafficking, this typically criminalizes – and additional traumatizes and stigmatizes – trafficking victims.
The Pennsylvania legal professional normal’s case is exclusive in that it targets alleged intercourse traffickers, facilitators and consumers, and doesn’t criminalize intercourse trafficking victims.
Villanova Regulation Institute to Handle Business Sexual Exploitation, CC BY-NC-SA
Intercourse trafficking prevalent in Philadelphia
Each federal and Pennsylvania state legislation criminalize human trafficking. Human trafficking is outlined as against the law of violence that happens when a person carries out a particular act, reminiscent of recruiting, attractive or soliciting, by a particular means, particularly by power, fraud or coercion, for the aim of business intercourse.
These complete anti-trafficking legal guidelines criminalize a variety of conduct and goal a broad vary of actors. However our evaluation of knowledge from the Administrative Workplace of Pennsylvania Courts exhibits that intercourse trafficking not solely occurs within the state, however that it occurs at alarming charges, particularly within the Philadelphia space.
Between 2014 and the top of 2023, prosecutors in 38 counties throughout Pennsylvania have charged 304 defendants with trafficking-related offenses.
Of these, 115 led to convictions and 43% occurred in or round Philadelphia.
In 2023, Philadelphia County had probably the most human trafficking convictions within the state at 19, adopted by Delaware County with 11, Chester County with 10 and Bucks County with 9.
Arrest knowledge sheds some mild on the prevalence of trafficking in Philadelphia. However as a result of illicit and underground nature of business sexual exploitation, which incorporates prostitution, it’s tough to check and quantify.
Focusing on consumers and suppliers
Amongst these arrested on Oct. 22 are Terrance Jones, the alleged chief, his daughter, Natoria Jones, the alleged monetary supervisor of the trafficking enterprise, 4 alleged drivers and 16 males who allegedly paid cash for intercourse.
Terrance Jones and Thomas Reilly, considered one of Jones’ alleged drivers and his “trusted confidant,” have been charged with trafficking in people and associated expenses, together with involuntary servitude, selling prostitution and patronizing prostitution.
The opposite alleged drivers have been charged with selling prostitution and associated expenses, and the alleged industrial intercourse consumers have been charged with patronizing prostitutes and felony conspiracy.
Financial market idea helps the idea that provide and distribution comply with demand. Making use of this idea to human trafficking results in the conclusion that so long as there’s a demand for industrial intercourse, there will likely be traffickers who exploit victims – primarily girls, women and LGBTQ+ folks – to meet that demand.
Michelle Henry, legal professional normal of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Invoice Clark/CQ-Roll Name, Inc. by way of Getty Pictures
Turning level?
I’d argue that Henry used Pennsylvania’s human trafficking statute because the legislature meant it for use – to focus on all sectors that earn a living from trafficking, facilitate the trafficking group and drive the marketplace for it to exist within the first place.
That’s exactly what makes this investigation distinctive. Regulation enforcement focused all ranges of the provision chain for industrial intercourse, uprooting the alleged trafficking ring from prime to backside. The chief, monetary supervisor, drivers and consumers have been all charged with a number of counts for his or her roles in allegedly exploiting the victims.
Furthermore, the truth that not one of the victims on this case was charged with prostitution is a recognition by the workplace of the legal professional normal that those that are exploited by means of intercourse trafficking are victims and shouldn’t be criminalized.
This recognition, coupled with the legal professional normal’s top-down method, might signify an vital turning level in investigative technique in Pennsylvania and past – one I imagine that may considerably scale back charges of human trafficking and industrial sexual exploitation within the state.
Riley Crouthamel, a analysis assistant on the Institute to Handle Business Sexual Exploitation at Villanova College’s Charles Widger Faculty of Regulation, contributed to this text.