8 charged in Chester County sex trafficking bust

EAST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP, Penn. - Three men in Chester County were arrested on sex trafficking charges by East Whiteland Police and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, while five others were arrested on charges of paying to have sex with a minor or adult victim, officials announced Wednesday.

Chester County officials say a 14-year-old girl’s message to a friend helped them find the girl, missing from her Maryland home since early May 2020. Her message was also key in making the arrest. Her brief seven word note, "I don't want to be here anymore," set the wheels in motion concluding with her rescue and the arrest of the ring leaders, as well as those pahying for sex.

Three co-defendents – 34-year-old Dimas Omar Cornejo Hernandez, 25-year-old Franklin Rivera Medieta and 33-year-old Josue Sibrian Sanchez were arrested on the charges of Trafficking in Minors, Involuntary Servitude, Kidnapping, Rape, among a litany of other charges.

The five others arrested are 25-year-old Diana Ordonez, 29-year-old Luis Cabrera Peralta, 45-year-old Nestor Ruiz, 35-year-old Juan Humberto Ortiz Ortiz and 23-year-old Carlos Villatoro Gallegos.

Officials say the 14-year-old was able to send a message through Facebook to a friend that she was being held against her will and being sold for sex. The girl was also able to get a message to her mother asking to be picked up at a Lancaster Avenue Wawa in East Whiteland Township.

Her mother contacted police.

On May 30, 2020, law enforcement successfully rescued the girl. She was able to detail how she was lured into the situation. It was thought that the girl was recruited by a 17-year-old girl through Snapchat.

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After the 14-year-old described for authorities the inner workings of her own situation, a second 18-year-old victim was discovered. The 18-year-old teen told a similar story of being lured through Snapchat, then being held against her will, being forced to ingest drugs and forced to have sex for money. She was able to escape after approximately three weeks.

The eight men are being held at Chester County Prison. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for July 9, 2020.

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