A resident of Jacksonville, N.C. was sentenced to 15 years in prison for transporting prostitutes and promoting a prostitution business. Eric Thompson aged 29 was convicted to 15 years in jail and ordered to pay $19,200 after pleading guilty to operating an interstate prostitution business that operated in North Carolina and South Carolina.
How Eric committed his crimes
According to evidence brought before the court, Eric falsely promised five women money and fame if they joined his prostitution business. After joining his business, he would threaten them, isolate them and abuse them so as to prevent them from leaving his illegal trade.
He also in numerous occasions engaged in sexual intercourse with the women, recorded the acts and posted the videos onto the Internet in exchange for money without the women's consent. Those working on the case stated that human trafficking violates the rights of victims and is a form of modern slavery.
In the year 2016, the U.S Department of Homeland Security arrested a total of 2,000 human sex traffickers and rescued 400 sex victims countrywide.
Other similar arrests and convictions that were made this year
On May 3rd of this year, the California police arrested 23 men and women involved in prostitution and human trafficking. Among those arrested were eight young girls aged between 14 and 17 years.
The human traffickers were as young as 19 years.
On May 18th of this year, police arrested multiple individuals running an online escort business. Perpetrators were spread across 14 different states and were believed to be operating a high-end prostitution ring that charged $300 an hour for one woman and $500 an hour for two women.
Recruiters also approached underage girls and promised them lots of money and cars in they joined their prostitution ring. One of the traffickers, in this case, was a 25-year-old man.
On May 26th of this month, 21 members of an international sex trafficking ring were arrested for forcing Thailand women to travel to the United States so that they can work as sex slaves.
Those trafficking the women were 10 Thai nationals and 11 U.S citizens. The women were mostly from poor backgrounds and were promised a better life in the United States. Upon reaching the U.S, the women were forced to have sex with multiple strangers per day and were forced to undergo plastic surgery so as to improve their appearance. One of the women was promised a massage job in the U.S only to find out that her employer was a pimp who wanted her to engage in prostitution.
