On November 2, 2022, United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon sentenced Oscar Carter III to 78 months of incarceration and 15 years of supervised release. Carter was convicted of violating the Mann Act by transporting a minor across state lines “for the purpose [of] having the minor engage in prostitution and conspiracy.” The Mann Act prohibits the transportation of any individual across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. On July 11, 2022, Carter also pled guilty to conspiring with another individual, Shelby Summer Brown. Brown was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment with 5 years of supervised release.
As we previously reported, The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced that, on June 5, 2018, Oscar Carter III and Shelby Summer Brown were indicted on charges relating to sex trafficking of a minor by a federal grand jury. The Department of Justice’s 2018 press release revealed that Carter and Brown were specifically indicted on charges of Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Purpose of Engaging in Unlawful Sexual Activity, Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking, and Sex Trafficking of a Child. The indictment came nearly two months after Carter and Brown were arrested by Butler County Police for running a prostitution ring out of a local hotel.
The CSE Institute notes that hotels and motels are among the most common venues for facilitating and financially benefitting from sex trafficking. These venues provide both easy entry and financial secrecy for sex buyers. The Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act provides means to hold hotels both criminally accountable and civilly liable for sex trafficking. In fact, in 2017, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a hotel was convicted for sex trafficking.
This case is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s enhanced Project Safe Childhood initiative, a nationwide effort to combat child abuse and sexual exploitation. The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section lead this project to identify and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet and to identify and rescue child victims.
The CSE Institute applauds the efforts of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi M. Grogan, and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in combating the horrendous and pervasive problem of child sex trafficking. The CSE Institute is also encouraged by the collaborative approach used by multiple law enforcement agencies to investigate this case, implementing the expertise of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cranberry Township Police, and the City of Pittsburg Bureau of Police. Finally, we commend the bravery of the survivor in this case. She has truly shown incredible strength and courage.
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 Villanova University.