Sex trafficker gets 9 years in prison after HSI investigation
PHILADELPHIA — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) case led to a nine-year federal prison sentence Friday for a Pennsylvania man who sex-trafficked a minor.
Wilkes-Barre resident Travis Humphrey, 27, previously pleaded guilty to recruiting and transporting a then 16-year-old female to engage in commercial sex acts in motels in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The victim’s parents reported her missing after she failed to return home from taking exams in Wilkes Barre May 14, 2013. The HSI investigation found Humphrey used violent threats to force the girl into working as a prostitute from May 2013 through June 2013.
He and others forced the victim into commercial sex acts by driving her to motels; taking photos of her and posting them on a website with a cell phone; answering customer calls for her; buying her “slutty” clothes to wear for the ads and for the “dates;” and renting a vehicle to use to drive the victim to motels in for the purposes of prostitution.
“The sentence handed down should send a clear message to those who are involved in human trafficking,” said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia. “HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who commit these heinous crimes are held accountable for their actions.”
Humphrey was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2014 as a result of the HSI-led investigation and collaboration with the Pennsylvania State Police and the Luzerne County, Penn., District Attorney’s Office.
The federal judge also ordered Humphrey to serve five years on supervised release following his prison sentence and to pay a $100 special assessment. Humphrey will also have to register as a sex offender and undergo sex offender treatment.
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