Is human trafficking illegal?
Yes. Human trafficking is illegal in every single state. It doesn’t matter if the victim is a citizen of the United States or a foreign national.
But what does the law say about human trafficking?
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of a person for labor, services, and commercial sex.
Sex trafficking is a situation induced by force, fraud, or coercion for a commercial sex act. It’s also a situation where a person performing such an act hasn’t reached the age of 18. This means that any commercial sex of a minor under legal definitions is automatically sex trafficking.
Labor trafficking can involve the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or other services. This procurement occurs through the use of force, fraud, or coercion to subject the person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
The problem with these definitions is that it doesn’t illustrate how human trafficking happens in the real world. It doesn’t provide any stories on human trafficking.
However, court cases do illustrate how human trafficking takes place and how police catch these criminals.
Let’s explore 5 stories on human trafficking that illustrate real-life sex and labor trafficking cases.
Table of Contents
Indicted in Seattle - May 2023
Brandon Denzel Washington is a 30-year-old California man who allegedly forced women into prostitution using assaults, threats, and manipulation. In May 2023, Police arrested him in Seattle on a grand jury indictment.
When he showed up in court, the judge ordered him detained pending trial. Mr. Washington faces four federal felonies related to human trafficking. He pleaded “not guilty” and the trial should happen in July.
According to the indictment, Mr. Washington faces two counts of Sex Trafficking through Force, Fraud, and Coercion. The first count charges him with the forced trafficking of an adult female in Seattle from 2014 to 2020. Count Three charges the man with Sex Trafficking through Force, Fraud, and Coercion for a second victim in Seattle from 2017 to 2019.
In all of the cases, Mr. Washington transported the victims to engage in prostitution. He transported one victim from California to Washington state to engage in commercial sex. He transported the second victim from Washington to Hawaii, among other places, to engage in commercial sex acts.
via KomoNews
The sex trafficking scheme was first uncovered by a police officer. A retired Bellevue Police Officer working security noticed a high number of men visiting a local luxury apartment building over just a few weeks. The investigation took off from there. Law enforcement investigators analyzed…
Financial records
Travel records
Ads for commercial sex posted in online forums
Social media posts
They wanted to identify victims of Washington’s sex trafficking activities and to gather evidence of the offenses.
Mr. Washington uses the name “Bentley” online. Allegedly, he had women under his control tattoo the emblem of the Bentley car company on their bodies to show his ownership.
Mr. Washington allegedly trafficked multiple women through…
California
Washington
Nevada
Hawaii
Florida
New York
Evidence in the case reveals Mr. Washington allegedly forced one victim to sign a “contract” in blood. This contract established that she had to earn $200,000 per year for him. It also says she needs to “submit completely to him” – even asking permission to leave the house.
Sex trafficking through force, fraud, and coercion in Washington is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. Transporting a victim for prostitution is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Sentenced in Brooklyn - April 2023
Joseph Harris is a 41-year-old man, also known as “Luis Santana,” and “Joey Moscato.” A judge sentenced him to 21 years in prison In April 2023 for sex trafficking multiple victims by force, fraud, and coercion.
From July 2017 until his arrest in May 2018, Harris used violence, threats of violence, and abusive/coercive tactics to compel multiple victims to engage in commercial sex acts for his financial benefit.
NYPD officers uncovered Harris’s crimes when they responded to several 911 calls about girls forcibly held at his apartment in Brooklyn. Inside the apartment, the officers found two of the defendant’s adult victims. They also found a 16-year-old minor female. The officers recovered items in the apartment like…
A loaded semi-automatic handgun
A birth certificate for a 17-year-old female
Hotel receipts
Hand-written instructions on posting advertisements for commercial sex
Other items
After discovering the females and the items, the police conducted a thorough investigation.
The investigation revealed that Harris used force and threats to compel his victims to work in prostitution. He forced the women to give him the money that they earned. He also punished women who withheld money from him.
In at least one dispute over money, Harris dragged a victim through a pool of bleach he had poured on the floor. In another incident, he menaced a victim at gunpoint and posted a photograph of it on his Instagram account.
Harris had sexual intercourse with his victims, including underage girls as young as 14. He provided his victims with drugs including ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, and pills. He used Backpage.com and social media websites to facilitate his business.
For all of these crimes, Harris will spend 21 years in prison.
Arrested in Boston - March 2023
Police arrested the owner of Stash’s Pizza in March 2023 on forced labor charges.
Stavros “Steve” Papantoniadis, allegedly employed a victim who lacked immigration status. He forced the victim to work for years while threatening the victim with deportation. Papantoniadis subjected his victim to repeated verbal and physical abuse.
Over the course of several years, Papantoniadis allegedly targeted victims who lacked immigration status. He employed his victims at depressed wages. Papantoniadis demanded that they work, in most cases, six to seven days per week, at times for far more than eight hours per day and often without breaks or overtime compensation. Papantoniadis also allegedly withheld wages.
It’s further alleged that Papantoniadis routinely threatened to have employees deported from the United States. He used violence and threats to scare victims and ensure that they complied with his excessive workplace demands.
According to the charging documents, one victim worked at Stash’s Pizza from 2001 to 2015. During his time there, Papantoniadis allegedly made derogatory comments repeatedly about the victim’s religion and violently attacked the victim several times.
On one occasion, when the trafficking victim missed a day of work, Papantoniadis allegedly responded by pushing him to the floor and yelling racial slurs.
Another time, Papantoniadis allegedly kicked his victim in the groin, causing the victim to suffer severe pain. When the victim sought medical treatment, Papantoniadis threatened to kill him or report him to immigration authorities if he did not return to work.
On other occasions, Papantoniadis allegedly slapped and choked his victim and broke his teeth, causing the victim to have them removed. This led to the victim wearing dentures. According to court documents, as a result of the threats and violence, the trafficking victim feared Papantoniadis and kept working for him at Stash’s Pizza.
Other former employees of Stash’s Pizza disclosed additional information about Papantoniadis’ threats and violence.
Allegedly, when a second victim planned to quit, Papantoniadis told him that he was not going to leave and subsequently attacked the victim. This forced the second victim to run to safety in the parking lot.
When a third victim intended to quit, Papantoniadis allegedly made a false police report. Papantoniadis falsely stated that the victim had hit his car and left the scene of the accident after leaving Stash’s Pizza’s Norwood location. As a result, police pulled over the third victim and cited him.
The charge of forced labor provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. It also provides for a sentence of up to 5 years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sentenced in Tampa - January 2023
A judge sentenced David Alan Quarles to 35 years in federal prison in January 2023 for…
Conspiracy
Sex trafficking by force, threats, fraud, or coercion
Importation of an alien for prostitution
Transportation of an individual in interstate commerce for prostitution
Using a facility of interstate commerce in aid of prostitution
As part of his sentence, the court also sentenced Quarles to a term of 10 years of supervised release. The courts required him to register as a sex offender.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, for decades, Quarles trafficked young women. He recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, and maintained young women. He forced them to have sex with men in exchange for money.
Quarles forced and coerced the victims to engage in commercial sex across the U.S. by using methods such as…
Physical violence
Threats of violence
Sexual abuse
Psychological abuse
Financial abuse
The evidence revealed Quarles frequented strip clubs and bikini bars to target and recruit young vulnerable women. He targeted women who he knew were in difficult financial situations. Many of the victims lacked a stable home. Many had recently aged out of the foster care system.
Quarles promised the victims he would provide everything they desire. He promised them financial security, love and affection, and a family.
Quarles engaged in activities like…
Directing the victims to engage in prostitution
Posting advertisements featuring these victims
Arranging for the victims to travel across the United States to work
He required his victims to send him the money they earned when engaging in sex acts. They had to seek his permission to spend funds on necessities. The evidence presented in court that Quarles lacked any legitimate source of income and benefited financially from the victims. He used money generated from trafficking to rent large homes, buy luxury clothing items, and buy high-end cars.
At trial, Quarles testified that he had been working as a trafficker since at least 1994. However, he denied needing to force or coerce the victims to engage in commercial sex. At the sentencing hearing, Quarles maintained this defense. He stated that he did not intend to force or coerce the victims into engaging in sex acts.
The jury did not buy into this defense and convicted him of sex trafficking. Now he will spend the next 35 years in prison.
Sentenced in Pittsburgh - December 2022
A judge sentenced Roderick King, 33, in federal court to 37 years in prison followed by lifetime supervision. A jury convicted him of sex trafficking a minor and producing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
King was an over-the-road truck driver. According to evidence presented in court, the Minor Victim was just 14 years old when King first paid her to have sex in the back of his semi-truck. He initially enticed the Minor Victim by offering to give her cash to “hang out.” However, his true interest was to sexually abuse the child.
Over 3 years, King paid the Minor Victim hundreds of dollars in cash for sex. This happened on approximately 10 occasions. King also produced two videos of his sexual exploitation of the Minor Victim. In addition to paying the Minor Victim, King “groomed” the child by buying her shoes, clothes, and other items that teenage girls wanted.
King maintained control over the Minor Victim. For example, when he was away from her, he used his social media accounts to maintain contact.
In imposing the sentence, the court called King’s conduct “extraordinarily serious.” The Court noted that of the “many disturbing facts” of the case, one of the most disturbing was King’s “lack of remorse.”
Conclusion
Stories on human trafficking are hard to read. Although some stories end with the imprisonment of human traffickers, this isn’t a happy ending. The trafficking victims need to heal from their experiences. They will never be the same.
As uncomfortable as it might be, people need to learn about human trafficking stories. Victims can find themselves in the trafficking world for several years, if not the rest of their lives.
By learning their stories, we can save more victims and put more traffickers behind bars. The best way to protect yourself and your community is through education.
