Items written by Samantha Newman
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Student Blog Series: How Credit and the Financial Institutions that Drive the Industry are Becoming an Insurmountable Obstacle in a Survivors’ Path to Freedom
Date: May 7, 2024
Recruitment into prostitution takes many forms; victims can be recruited from schools, the streets, by friends, or by romantic partners. While traffickers often target those with vulnerabilities or individuals coming from abusive backgrounds, some traffickers are focused on something else … Read more about Student Blog Series: How Credit and the Financial Institutions that Drive the Industry are Becoming an Insurmountable Obstacle in a Survivors’ Path to Freedom »
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Student Blog Series: The Dark Truth of Exploitation in Children’s Television
Date: May 7, 2024
Children’s television is supposed to provide opportunities for those with passion and talent at a young age. It is meant to give children a safe space to explore the world of acting and what they can bring to it. However, … Read more about Student Blog Series: The Dark Truth of Exploitation in Children’s Television »
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State Representatives and Senators Announce Plans to Introduce New Legislation Eliminating the Felony Penalty for People with HIV Charged with Prostitution
Date: April 24, 2024
On March 20, 2024, PA State Representative Ben Waxman, State Representative Malcom Kenyatta, and State Senator Vince Hughes announced plans to introduce legislation eliminating the felony penalty for people with HIV charged with prostitution. In announcing the legislation, Senator Hughes … Read more about State Representatives and Senators Announce Plans to Introduce New Legislation Eliminating the Felony Penalty for People with HIV Charged with Prostitution »
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Student Blog Series: Sean “Diddy” Combs and How Fame and Influence can Foster Exploitation
Date: April 22, 2024
In recent months, Sean “Diddy” Combs, famously known as “P. Diddy” or “Puff Daddy,” has become the subject of several sexual assault cases. A prominent figure in the music industry, Combs is accused of various acts of sexual harassment and … Read more about Student Blog Series: Sean “Diddy” Combs and How Fame and Influence can Foster Exploitation »
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Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking 18-year-old Girl
Date: April 19, 2024
On March 29,Louis Fountain, a 34-year-old resident of Delaware County, pled guilty to seven charges related to his trafficking of an 18-year-old girl in Lancaster County including two counts of trafficking individuals, four counts of promoting prostitution, and one count … Read more about Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking 18-year-old Girl »
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Fighting Back: Lawsuit Targets Vince McMahon and WWE’s Alleged Pattern of Abuse
Date: April 16, 2024
On January 25, 2024, former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleging she was the “victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and trafficking … Read more about Fighting Back: Lawsuit Targets Vince McMahon and WWE’s Alleged Pattern of Abuse »
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UPDATE: High School Teacher Arrested for Child Sex Trafficking
Date: April 16, 2024
Former high school teacher and volunteer football coach Michael Feifel, 56, was sentenced to serve eleven months twenty-nine days to twenty four months less a day, followed by twelve months of probation. This sentence followed a guilty plea to one count … Read more about UPDATE: High School Teacher Arrested for Child Sex Trafficking »
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Former Fountain Hill Borough Manager Sentenced to Two Years of Probation
Date: April 15, 2024
On March 22, 2024, Eric Gratz was sentenced to two years of probation for two counts of criminal solicitation by the Honorable Judge Anna-Kristie M. Marks in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. Gratz was employed as a borough … Read more about Former Fountain Hill Borough Manager Sentenced to Two Years of Probation »
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Student Blog Series: Exploitation in the Modeling Industry
Date: April 13, 2024
Esmeralday Seay-Reynolds was just fifteen years old when Click Model Management scouted her in New York. This was supposed to be her “big break,” but the glamorous bubble of the model agency quickly popped, when the agency told the 5-foot-11, … Read more about Student Blog Series: Exploitation in the Modeling Industry »
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Pittsburgh-Area Cop Sentenced in Prostitution Scandal
Date: April 12, 2024
On March 13th, a former Pittsburgh police officer, Blake Thomas Babin, 60, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court, following a guilty plea to one count of illegally transporting a Venezuelan teenager from Colombia into the United States. … Read more about Pittsburgh-Area Cop Sentenced in Prostitution Scandal »