Martin Smith from Saint Petersburg, Florida, pretended to be a Drug Enforcement Agency agent in order to hold a prostituted woman against her will in a Sugarloaf Township motel room, according to Penn Live. He solicited the woman on the morning of October 14, 2017, and when she arrived at the motel, WNEP reports that Smith handcuffed the woman and held her captive until she was able to convince him that she needed to go to her car and get drugs. After that, she was able to call 911.
WNEP says Smith had a fake badge, metal pellet gun, and drugs on him at the time of his arrest. He has been charged with unlawful restraint, impersonating a police officer, patronizing prostitutes, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Smith’s bail has been set at $100,000.
We recently reported on the death of a prostituted woman in Pittsburgh, shedding an often-overlooked light on the myriad dangers associated with commercial sexual exploitation. While we do not have any additional information on the prostituted woman in this case, we do know that this is an extremely violent industry, synonymous with trafficking and other severe risks that no one should face in order to make a living. In fact, nearly all trafficked woman (92.2%) in a recent study report being subjected to physical violence. Of those women, 55% reported suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and 42% had attempted suicide at least once. Moreover, workplace homicide rates for women in prostitution are 51 times higher than the next most dangerous occupation for women, according to another study.
We applaud authorities for arresting Smith for his inhumane actions against this prostituted person. We also hope this incident can serve as a reminder that prostituted persons are often victims deserving of compassionate understanding, even when they aren’t calling the police for help.
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.