On May 14, 2025, the Cumberland County Human Trafficking Task Force, the East Pennsboro Township Police Department, and the Silver Spring Township Police Department conducted “Operation Impact Demand XI.” The sting resulted in the arrest of seven men for allegedly attempting to pay for sex at a Cumberland County hotel. The individuals arrested were James Cropf, 60, of Mechanicsburg; Brett Donnelly, 62, of Harrisburg; Kenneth England, 35, of Harrisburg; Brian Groff, 33, of Mount Joy; Ismail Guler, 50, of Mechanicsburg; Kurtis Page, 42, of Carlisle; and Assamee Shabazz, 38, of York. Each was charged with patronizing prostitutes.
This operation is part of a broader initiative known as “Operation Impact Demand,” which has been ongoing since June 2022. Since its inception, nearly 100 individuals have been arrested in connection with this operation, which is aimed at targeting “one of the driving forces of Human Trafficking – customers of the commercial sex trade.”
The Cumberland County district attorney’s office stated that “[t]hose people who continue to prey on others will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The CSE Institute notes that hotels and motels are “among the most common venues for facilitating and financially benefitting from sex trafficking,” due in part to easy entry and financial secrecy for sex buyers. Under the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act, hotels can be criminally convicted and be held civically liable for their involvement in human trafficking.
Cumberland County will continue to conduct anti-demand investigations in order to reduce the demand for commercial sex. As Cumberland County District Attorney Seán M. McCormack has previously stated, sex buyers “are the ones driving sex trafficking by putting money into the hands of the sex traffickers who exploit the women and men trapped in this existence.” In addition to Operation Impact Demand, Cumberland County has previously enacted Operation: Closed2Trafficking which focused on “illegal commercial sexual trafficking and exploitation of individuals.”
The CSE Institute applauds Cumberland County’s concerted efforts to reduce commercial sexual exploitation in our Commonwealth by targeting the driving force of the sex trade: the demand. For more information on the incredible work done by District Attorney McCormack, see our 2024 Annual Report.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for June 2. 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 Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.