On September 26, 2016, a New Jersey man was sentenced to 11½ to 23 years in Pennsylvania state prison after pleading guilty to trafficking. The trafficker, Christopher DeGrasse from New Brunswick, New Jersey, was arrested at a hotel in Bensalem, Pennsylvania in April 2016.
DeGrasse locked his victims in a hotel room and threatened them by warning the only way they would ever leave would be “in a body bag”. He also employed a form of force, fraud, and coercion that is codified by Pennsylvania’s human trafficking statute and typically used by traffickers: “facilitating or controlling the individual’s access to a controlled substance” (18 Pa. C.S. § 3012(b)(12)). DeGrasse mandated that his victims earn him at least $800 from sexual acts each night; when they met his demands, DeGrasse promised to supply them with drugs. Drugs can temporarily numb physical, dissociate emotional pain or simply keep a victim from feeling sick, but they also keep victims controlled and compliant. Conversely, when DeGrasse’s victims did not meet his earnings quota, he would brutally assault them. This daily cycle of violence and exploitation is a familiar pattern that has been previously chronicled by the CSE Institute.
The CSE Institute applauds the work of the Bensalem Police Department, including Corporal Adam Schwartz, the arresting officer, as well as the Bucks County District Attorney’s office, for their work in bringing another trafficker to justice in Pennsylvania. This pattern of coercion, exploitation, and use of drugs to hold young women hostage and then force them into prostitution is far too common in our Commonwealth. It is only through the continued hard work of local law enforcement and prosecutors, working alongside survivors, that commercial sexual exploitation of young women in can be eradicated.