New Haven Man, 48, Guilty Of Sex Trafficking 3 CT Victims: Feds

New Haven CT

25 October, 2021

5:17 PM

Description

NEW HAVEN, CT — A New Haven man who coerced two women and a girl into selling themselves for sex in Miami during the 2020 Super Bowl was found guilty of commercial sex trafficking by a federal jury in Florida, according to the Justice Department. During the eight-day trial of 48-year-old Edward Walker, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alejandra L. López and Brian Dobbins presented evidence that in January 2020, he brought two adult women and a 17-year-old girl to Miami from Connecticut to engage in commercial sex acts during the Super Bowl, prosecutors said. "While in Miami, Walker emotionally, psychologically, and financially coerced the victims into soliciting customers and having sex with them in exchange for money, all of which Walker kept," the DOJ said. Other evidence, prosecutors said, showed that after the Super Bowl in Miami, Walker planned to take the victims to Chicago, during the NBA All-Star Game, New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, Las Vegas, and other places to "further sexually exploit them. " The jury found Walker guilty of sex trafficking by force and coercion, sex trafficking of a minor and by force and coercion, and transporting a person for sexual activity. Walker will be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022, in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison. This case was investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, in partnership with MDPD's Human Trafficking Squad, and the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force. FBI New Haven; Homeland Security Investigations Miami; Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Office; Miami Beach Police Department; and Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office assisted. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. To learn more about the National Resource Hotline, visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. To learn more about the U.S. Department of Justice's efforts to combat human trafficking visit www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.