On September 19, 2022, United States District Judge C. Darnell Jones II sentenced Rafael Robinson to seventeen years and six months in prison, followed by ten years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $459,000 restitution for his perpetration of sex trafficking by force. Robinson and his co-defendant, Kevino Graham, were initially convicted by a jury on February 5, 2016. We previously reported on December 19, 2017, that Graham was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison for his perpetration of two counts of sex trafficking by force and one count of attempted sex trafficking by force. Two other co-defendants, Brian Wright and Renato Teixeira, pled guilty. Wright was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison and Teixeira sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison.
Robinson is the fourth and final member of a sadistic sex trafficking ring in West Philadelphia to be sentenced. According to court documents, the four men operated a strip club, known as “Club Passions,” and a brothel, known as “Passionate Touch.” A second Superseding Indictment alleged that Robinson and his three co-defendants engaged in acts of force, fraud, and coercion to cause a young woman to engage in acts of prostitution for approximately three years. During that time, the survivor was subject to repeated acts of sadistic torture.
Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero stated after the sentencing that, “while the victims may never fully recover from the crimes committed against them, they can rest assured that these four perpetrators have now been brought to justice. Our Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at all levels to relentlessly investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes.”
This is just one instance of justice for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. The CSE Institute applauds Assistant United States District Attorney Michelle Morgan, a Villanova Law graduate, for her work prosecuting these heinous crimes seeking justice for survivors of trafficking. In addition, the CSE Institute commends the investigative work done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. The CSE Institute also commends the bravery and strength of the survivors. It is irrefutable that survivors will be the driving force behind changing the sex trafficking narrative.
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.