Over the past several months, Dauphin County and several cooperating agencies have made laudable efforts to proactively reduce sex trafficking in our Commonwealth by targeting the demand that fuels the industry: sex buyers.
On June 25, Leonard Long, 39, of Harrisburg, pleaded guilty to one count of patronizing prostitutes after he arranged a paid sexual encounter with an undercover officer in January 2024. Harrisburg Police Department apprehended Long during Operation Ginger Snap, a law enforcement operation targeting human trafficking demand. The Dauphin County Human Trafficking Task Force and Harrisburg Bureau of Police investigated and prosecuted the case. Long was ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $2,500 pursuant to the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Act.
On May 30, Eric Shell, 48, of Harrisburg, pleaded guilty to one count of patronizing prostitutes after he arranged a paid sexual encounter with an undercover officer in March 2024. Susquehanna Township Police Department apprehended Shell during Operation March Badness, a law enforcement operation targeting human trafficking demand. The Dauphin County Human Trafficking Task Force and Susquehanna Township Police Department investigated and prosecuted the case. This conviction appears to be Shell’s third conviction for patronizing prostitutes in Pennsylvania; the first was in Cumberland County in February 2023, and the second was in Cumberland County in June 2023. Shell was ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $2,500.
On April 18, Joseph Gatz, 36, of Dauphin, Derek Jones, 48, of Harrisburg, and Nicholas Chortanoff, 45, of Highspire, pleaded guilty to one count each of patronizing prostitutes after arranging paid sexual encounters with undercover officers in separate incidents in March 2024. Like Shell, all men were also apprehended by Susquehanna Township Police Department during Operation March Badness. Each were ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $2,500.
As noted by the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office, patronizing prostitutes is not a victimless crime. In fact, as the announcement notes, “[m]ost “prostitutes” have a history of being trafficked or are being trafficked at the time of the prostitution act. Their traffickers subject them to force, fraud, or coercion, and utilize power and control to retain the money paid for the sexual acts.”
As a matter of fact, under Pennsylvania law, a person is guilty of trafficking if he an individual if he knows or recklessly disregards that the individual is subject to involuntary sexual servitude. Under Pennsylvania law, sexual servitude includes any sex act or performance involving a sex act in exchange for anything of value obtained by force, fraud, or coercion.
By proactively targeting sex buyers, Dauphin County is effectively targeting the demand fueling the sex trafficking industry. Rather than adhering to antiquated policing methods that criminalize people in prostitution, or the supply, targeting sex buyers, or the demand, comports with the basic economic theory that supply and distribution follow demand, and therefore aids in eliminating the commercial sex trade in a more effective and less harmful way.
Indeed, the practice of prosecuting people who are bought and sold for sex perpetuates the harmful ideology that people in prostitution are criminals rather than people who are an already-marginalized, vulnerable, and often exploited population. It increases the traumatization and stigmatization of this population and creates even more barriers for victims attempting to exit “the life.” A single criminal conviction can serve as a massive obstacle to stable employment, housing opportunities, and much more.
Instead, the CSE Institute encourages law enforcement across the Commonwealth to follow in Dauphin County’s footsteps and hold sex buyers accountable for the exploitation they perpetuate. We advocate for the Equality Model, which seeks to reduce the demand for commercial sex by criminalizing sex buyers and traffickers and decriminalizing prostituted people. The four pillars of the Equality Model are: (1) decriminalization of the person who is selling sex, (2) criminalization of sex buyers and facilitators, (3) educating the public about the harms of prostitution, and (4) funded, holistic exit services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. In alignment with Dauphin County’s recent efforts, the Equality Model directly targets the demand while decriminalizing the people who are being bought, sold, and exploited for commercial sex. We applaud Dauphin County for its continued efforts!
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.