On January 23, 2017, an alleged tip about human trafficking led an undercover officer in Berks County to respond to an online advertisement. According to The Reading Eagle, the officer allegedly engaged in a series of text messages arranging to meet and purchase sex from an individual in a Wyomissing hotel.
During the investigation, the undercover officer allegedly traveled to the hotel room specified in the text message communications. There, the woman, reported to be from New York, allegedly accepted money from the undercover officer. Following this exchange, another police officer arrived and the woman was subsequently detained and charged with prostitution. The officers later found that she had rented the room in her name, and also discovered two cell phones and $880 in the room. According to court records, the woman was placed in Berks County Prison and charged with prostitution, with bail set at $10,000. The following day, and she was released.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, human trafficking is “a form of modern-day slavery in which victims are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex, debt bondage, or involuntary labor.” Both federal and state laws criminalize human trafficking. However, in what police often claim is an effort to combat human trafficking, those who sell sex that are not readily identifiable as trafficking victims are charged with prostitution, despite the devastating collateral consequences these arrests can present.
While the article in The Reading Eagle mentions that human trafficking was suspected, there is no mention of a search for a trafficker or possible sex buyers. Although it is a crime to purchase sex in Pennsylvania, sex buyers have historically been prosecuted at a much lower rate than those who sell sex. Furthermore, it is notable that the woman stated that she rented the room in her own name and was not forced to sell sex. It is common for prostituted persons to be forced to rent hotels in their own names so that their traffickers can elude detection. Traffickers also commonly train their victims to state that they work alone.
The CSE Institute efforts to respond to allegations of human trafficking. However, although it is crucial to respond to tips about human trafficking, the CSE Institute would like to see further efforts targeting the demand for sex in line with the Nordic Model. In order to truly combat human trafficking, it is imperative to punish the sale AND purchase of sex and offer services – not sentences – to individuals being sold for sex.
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.