On September 10, Millcreek police arrested Stephen Houghton, 43, after an undercover operation uncovered suspected sex trafficking in Erie County. Houghton was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and five counts of promoting prostitution, including a felony count of promoting prostitution by encouraging, inducing, or otherwise intentionally causing another to become or remain a person in prostitution. After the preliminary hearing on October 1, the court withdrew all but one count of promoting prostitution. Houghton pled guilty to disorderly conduct and the felony promoting prostitution charge was changed, presumably to a misdemeanor.
The investigation targeted commercial sexual exploitation operating through online platforms. On September 10, undercover investigators seemingly impersonated a sex buyer and responded to an advertisement on “Skip the Games,” a website commonly used by sex buyers to connect with persons in prostitution. Investigators contacted a telephone number listed on the advertisement, later determined to belong to Houghton, and arranged a meeting in Erie. Upon arriving at the meeting location, police officers encountered Houghton accompanied by a woman. According to the affidavit, the woman told officers that she was there to perform commercial sex acts and that Houghton accompanied her for safety purposes. She told police that Houghton was the individual who created the online advertisement and communicated with the undercover officers, and that Houghton required her to split her earnings with him.
This case highlights the potential of proactive investigation techniques in combating human trafficking. As commercial sexual exploitation has increasingly shifted online, traffickers rarely work or operate in plain sight. Instead, they often rely on the perceived anonymity of digital platforms to recruit vulnerable individuals, publish advertisements, and solicit sex buyers. Conducting undercover operations across these digital platforms allows law enforcement to infiltrate traffickers’ online operations and hold them accountable before further harm occurs. However, undercover operations aimed at dismantling sex trafficking operations are only effective in combatting commercial sexual exploitation if police do not arrest people in prostitution. The CSE Institute commends the Millcreek Township Police Department for appropriately refraining from arresting or charging the woman present at the scene.
Under Chapter 30 of Pennsylvania’s Crimes Code, sex trafficking is defined as a crime that occurs when a person commits a specified act, using the means of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of commercial sex. The enumerated acts include advertising, providing, transporting. While the woman stated that Houghton was accompanying her for “safety” purposes, her allegations that Houghton created and posted the advertisement, managed communications with sex buyers, accompanied her to the meeting site, and took a share of her earnings raise numerous red flags.
Traffickers frequently take on the role as “protectors” to exert control over victims, create confusion, and develop a connection, leading victims to feel genuine loyalty or affection for the trafficker. As a result, victims often protect or defend their exploiters during law enforcement interactions due to trauma bonding, coercive control, or fear of retaliation. Because of these complexities, it’s necessary that law enforcement conduct thorough investigations to determine whether individuals in these situations are victims of human trafficking; initial statements taken at the scene of a crime rarely capture the full extent of coercive control.
The CSE Institute applauds the efforts of the Millcreek Township Police Department and the Erie County District Attorney’s Office for their proactive use of undercover operations and effort to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Erie County.
All views expressed therein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.