Items written by Shea Rhodes

• Update: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Chrystul Kizer, Allowing Her to Raise the Sex Trafficking Defense in Homicide Trial

  Date: July 12, 2022

  On July 6, 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of a Wisconsin state appellate court holding that, under Wisconsin law, victims of human trafficking have “an affirmative defense for any offense committed as a direct result’ of trafficking.”  … Read more about Update: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Chrystul Kizer, Allowing Her to Raise the Sex Trafficking Defense in Homicide Trial »

• Update: R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking and Racketeering

  Date: July 11, 2022

  On June 29, 2022, Robert Kelly, 55, more commonly known as R. Kelly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison following his 2021 convictions for sex trafficking and racketeering. Kelly was charged with violating the Mann Act, a federal law … Read more about Update: R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking and Racketeering »

• Media Must Stop Using the Term “Sex Work”: It Inappropriately Legitimizes an Industry Sustained by Gender-Based Violence

  Date: July 8, 2022

  On May 23, 2023, the Inquirer published an article titled “As Philly Prostitution Cases Dwindle to Almost Nothing, Some Worry that Sex Workers Won’t Get Help” by Vinny Vella. In his article, Vella uses the phrases “sex work” or “sex … Read more about Media Must Stop Using the Term “Sex Work”: It Inappropriately Legitimizes an Industry Sustained by Gender-Based Violence »

• Update: Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty to Promoting Prostitution and Living Off Prostitutes

  Date: July 6, 2022

  On Friday, June 24, 2022, Cornell Jamar Scott-Milbourne, 26, pleaded guilty to charges of promoting prostitution and living off prostitutes.  Scott-Milbourne was sentenced to time served to 23 months incarceration followed by two years of probation.  We previously reported on … Read more about Update: Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty to Promoting Prostitution and Living Off Prostitutes »

• Update: Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison and a $750,000 Fine for Aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s Sexual Abuse of Minors

  Date: June 29, 2022

  On June 28, 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine by Judge Alison Nathan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors. … Read more about Update: Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison and a $750,000 Fine for Aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s Sexual Abuse of Minors »

• Six Men Arrested in New Cumberland County Human Trafficking Enforcement Effort

  Date: June 28, 2022

  Over the weekend of June 4, 2022, six men were arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution in Cumberland County, PA.  The men arrested and charged are Gregory Leisey Jr., 45, Richland, PA; Sean Fitzsimmons, 49, Camp Hill, PA; Cory … Read more about Six Men Arrested in New Cumberland County Human Trafficking Enforcement Effort »

• Update: Bensalem Man Sentenced to Up to Four Decades in Prison for Trafficking of Minor

  Date: June 17, 2022

  On June 6, 2022, Bucks County President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. sentenced Andrew Hall, 29, to seventeen to forty years in prison for sex trafficking a fifteen-year-old victim, and ordered that Hall register as a sex offender.  In September … Read more about Update: Bensalem Man Sentenced to Up to Four Decades in Prison for Trafficking of Minor »

• Two Individuals Charged in a Prostitution Sting in the Poconos

  Date: June 15, 2022

  On June 3, 2022, investigators arrested Candace Pickering, 49 and Leonard Chistakoff, 79 in Monroe County after an investigation into prostitution related activity at a Poconos hotel. According to media reports, Pickering allegedly went to a Poconos hotel to meet … Read more about Two Individuals Charged in a Prostitution Sting in the Poconos »

• Update: “The Sevens” Sex Trafficking Gang Members Charged

  Date: June 15, 2022

  Four members of “The Sevens” have now been convicted after a six-week trial in Allentown. The individuals who were convicted at trial are Shaquile Newson, 29; Alexander Malave, 31; Karvarise Person, 33; James Goode, 47.  The members were convicted of … Read more about Update: “The Sevens” Sex Trafficking Gang Members Charged »

• Update: Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking in Moon Township

  Date: June 6, 2022

  On June 2, 2022, U.S. District Judge Christy Wiegand sentenced Anthony Juskowich to fifteen years in federal prison.  On February 11, 2021, Anthony Juskowich was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania for sex trafficking an adult … Read more about Update: Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking in Moon Township »