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Human trafficking ring in Northeast Philadelphia busted; nearly 2 dozen charged

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Published  October 22, 2024 5:56pm EDT
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia

NE Philly human trafficking ring busted

A decade-long human trafficking ring was busted, with nearly two dozen people facing charges.

CENTER CITY - Pennsylvania’s Attorney General and the state police report they’ve broken up a human trafficking ring running for a decade with prostitution at its core.

There was no answer at the Disston Street home of Terrance Jones Tuesday afternoon. 52-year-old Jones is charged with running a human trafficking ring out of his Northeast Philly home with prostitution at its core. He also faces related charges.

Speaking at an afternoon press conference, Attorney General Michelle Henry said, "Terrance Jones and his co-conspirators took advantage of young, vulnerable women and exploited their suffering to line their own pockets."

Henry said Jones is one of 22 people arrested after an investigation was launched in 2021 when a woman, struggling with addiction, reported she was having sex with male clients for money and drugs set up by Jones. Henry said, "Jones was able to lure and trap easily manipulated women into his scheme using their bodies for sex."

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Of the 22 arrested, investigators say three are drivers transporting about 12 women to and from their meetings with men for sex and taking virtually all the money afterwards. Another 16 are men, some named in the court documents, who are alleged to have paid for sex.

Investigators allege Jones would disguise his voice as a woman’s, and call himself Julie or Julia, when dealing with the women he was trafficking, to hide his identity. His daughter has also been charged.

Neighbor Joan Sutton, of Northeast Philadelphia, said, "I can't imagine somebody wouldn't have put a finger on it. A person would have called it in and said, ‘I think something is going on here. Not sure what it is but.’"