On February 20, a JetBlue pilot was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport on charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor. US Customs and Border Protection identified an active warrant against 33 year-old Jeremy Gudorf of Ohio while conducting a “standard review” of the manifest of a Boston to Paris flight. Following the request for support by CBP, Gudorf was detained by Massachusetts State Police.
The investigation began last October after the Huntersville Police Department in North Carolina received a tip from the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators issued a search warrant for Google, Inc to identify the source of the reported images and based on the evidence gathered, secured an arrest warrant for Gudorf.
In a news release, the Huntersville Police Department explained that Gudorf lived in Huntersville at the time of the alleged crime but moved out of state during the investigation. Prosecutor Kyle Neyman requested Gudorf be held without bail and surrender his passport due to the fact he is a commercial pilot.
Gudorf was arraigned on February 21 in East Boston District Court on a charge of Second-Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. Under the condition he report to North Carolina to clear the warrant by the following week, he was held on $10,000 bail.
A JetBlue spokesperson confirmed that Gudorf was placed on indefinite leave.
The CSE Institute applauds the multi-state collaborative efforts of the Huntersville Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police for arresting Gudorf and prioritizing the protection of minors from sexual exploitation. We must continue to criminalize human trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable youth to reduce the demand for commercial sex and help curb human trafficking overall. We additionally urge law enforcement to continue taking steps to protect their communities by conducting thorough investigations that target child sexual abuse and rape.
This case demystifies the reality of perpetrators of exploitation. Research on child maltreatment and sexual abuse demonstrates that 47% of perpetrators are male and 47% are white. This gender and racial inequality is mirrored in the commercial sex trade where it is estimated that 99% of sex buyers are men. Likewise, in Pennsylvania, 74% of sex buyers are white men. Although perpetrators of exploitation can be found across all income brackets, data collected in the United States has found that high-frequency buyers are more likely to earn a salary of over $100K annually. Preventing the exploitation of vulnerable groups necessitates both the investigation of these crimes as well as the prosecution of their perpetrators. Men in positions of power must be held accountable rather than allowed to act with impunity.
The CSE Institute stands with survivors and advocates for the adoption of the Equality Model in the United States. This common-sense legal framework decriminalizes people in prostitution and provide robust holistic services to those in the sex trade while criminalizing sex buyers and facilitators with a commitment to treating buying sex as a serious crime. Along with other demand-reduction policies, the Equality Model is an effect method to end commercial sexual exploitation as well as change cultural attitudes about the inherent harms of prostitution.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates as they become available.
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.