On September 14, 2018, Lancaster County secured their first conviction after a jury trial on charges related to human trafficking. Dominic Roach, 37, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, was convicted on all eighteen counts of charges stemming from a human trafficking ring operation discovered last year.
Following a three-day trial, a jury found him guilty on all eighteen charges. Court records show that Roach was convicted of the following: three counts of involuntary servitude (a first degree felony in violation of 18 § 3012 §§a); two counts of trafficking in individuals for recruiting, soliciting and enticing (a second degree felony in violation of 18 § 3011 §§a1); two counts of trafficking in individuals for financial benefit (a second degree felony in violation of 18 § 3011 §§a2); two counts of promoting prostitution for owning, controlling, managing, supervising or otherwise keeping, along or in association with others, a house of prostitution (a third degree felony in violation of 18 § 5902 §§b1); two counts of promoting prostitution for procuring a prostitute with a patron (a third degree felony in violation of 18 § 5902 §§b5); two counts of promoting prostitution for encouraging, inducing or otherwise intentionally causing a minor to become or remain a prostitute (a third degree felony in violation of 18 § 5902 §§b3); two counts of promoting prostitution for living off prostitutes (a third degree felony in violation of 18 § 5902 §§d); one count of criminal conspiracy for involuntary servitude (a first degree felony in violation of 18 § 903); one count of criminal conspiracy for promoting prostitution for owning, controlling, managing, supervising or otherwise keeping, along or in association with others, a house of prostitution (a third degree felony in violation of 18 § 903); one count of criminal conspiracy for trafficking in individuals for financial benefit (a second degree felony in violation of 18 § 903).
Roach was arrested on November 21, 2017, following an investigation that was initiated when East Lampeter Township Police responded to a hotel for a disturbance. The investigation uncovered that Roach trafficked two New Jersey women to Lancaster County and forced them to perform sexual acts in exchange for money. According to news outlets, at least seven hotels were used in the operation and a vehicle was rented for Roach to travel and collect the payments. Roach received approximately half of the payments and forced the women to pay for both the hotel fees and for the drugs that he supplied to them.
This trial represents the first time that a trafficker was both tried and convicted in Lancaster County, but not the first conviction in Lancaster County. In 2016, Tysheem Rodney Williams was arrested and charged with Trafficking in Individuals for financial benefit and Promoting Prostitution; Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield negotiated a guilty plea in November of 2017. In securing these convictions, Lancaster County has joined in the critical efforts to successfully end sex trafficking in our Commonwealth. Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield, who successfully prosecuted the case, noted the prevalence of human trafficking in a statement to the CSE Institute: “Human trafficking […] happens everywhere, even in Lancaster County. Law enforcement did a great job investigating this case, which ultimately led to a conviction.”
The CSE Institute is thrilled that Lancaster County has obtained a conviction that will hopefully lead to further prosecutions against traffickers. We applaud the effort of the collaborative approach used by multiple law enforcement agencies to investigate this case, including the East Lampeter Township Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Finally, the CSE Institute encourages litigation against third-party actors; here, the operation included at least seven hotels with room rentals totaling over $26,000 and rented vehicles used by Roach to collect the payments. This is a significant opportunity to address third-party liability and to begin a precedent in Pennsylvania that best serves human trafficking victims.
Roach will be sentenced on November 20, 2018.
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 Villanova University.