On October 10, Kevin Alting, 52, of Gratz, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit trafficking in individuals, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, and two counts of indecent assault of a minor under the age of 16.
These charges result from multiple incidents that took place in 2020 and 2021 with Alting’s two minor stepdaughters. Alting and the girls’ mother, Stacy Shalters, were both arrested after the older daughter reported Atling’s sexual abuse to her school administration in April.
Alting admitted to engaging in nonconsensual sex acts with the girls on multiple occasions. According to the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office, Alting groped their breasts, inner thighs, and buttocks, exposed himself to both of the minors, and attempted to watch them change their clothing in their bedrooms. Additionally, Alting allegedly offered $40 to one of his stepdaughters in exchange for sex acts, which she refused.
According to court documents, Shalters pleaded guilty to felony endangering welfare of children in March for her role in abusing the girls. According to his plea agreement, Alting will spend 3 to 12 months in prison followed by 3 years of probation. Alting is also required to register as a sex offender for the next 25 years.
Under Pennsylvania law, an individual is guilty of trafficking if they recruit, entice, solicit, patronize, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, advertise, or maintain another person for a commercial sex act. To be guilty of sex trafficking of a child, the prosecution must only prove that the defendants engaged in soliciting, enticing, harboring, obtaining, patronizing, or transporting a minor who is or will be subject to sexual servitude.
Here, since both of the victims were minors, the prosecution did not need to prove that the defendant knew or recklessly disregarded the victim’s age, nor does it have to be proven that anything of value was exchanged for the sex act. Under both federal and state law, any commercial sexual exploitation of minors constitutes sex trafficking because children cannot consent to be bought or sold for sex.
Therefore, Alting was properly charged with human trafficking. According to the facts, Alting solicited sex from his minor step-daughter by offering her $40 for sexual favors, which constitutes trafficking under the law.
The CSE Institute praises the collaborative efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office, and the Dauphin County Human Trafficking Task Force for not only arresting and prosecuting Alting, but also for prioritizing the protection of minors from commercial sexual exploitation in Pennsylvania. We must persist in criminalizing human trafficking and the exploitation of young, vulnerable individuals, as doing so will significantly decrease the demand for commercial sex and reduce human trafficking as a whole.
Most importantly, the CSE Institute commends the incredible bravery of the survivors in this case. Their voices are undeniably the driving force behind transforming the narrative around sex trafficking and must be amplified to help survivors achieve justice and hold perpetrators accountable.
We urge law enforcement to continue taking steps to protect their communities by conducting thorough investigations into suspected sex trafficking and encourage prosecutors statewide to utilize the human trafficking statutes when appropriate.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.