Escort service busts nab 2 area men
By
Brad Petrishen
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Sep 29, 2017 at 4:34 PM
Updated Sep 30, 2017 at 8:57 AM
Two area men have been indicted in connection with an online
prostitution ring, Attorney General Maura T. Healey announced Friday.
Caleb Gerry, 23, of Gardner, was charged with one count of trafficking persons for sexual servitude and one count of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, Ms. Healey’s office wrote in a news release.
Eric Simpson, 44, of Mendon, was charged with one count of money laundering, one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of paying for sex. Both are to be arraigned at an unspecified date in Middlesex Superior Court.
According to the release, the men are two of 10 people arrested in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in connection with chloescompanions.com, a purported “escort service” that served as a front for prostitution.
The suspected ringleaders of the website were two New Hampshire women arrested in February for allegedly arranging for women to have sex for money through the site. Between 12 and 15 women were trafficked on the website at any given time, Ms. Healey’s office said. She alleged that most of the money from the encounters went to the ringleaders.
According to the release, Mr. Gerry was one of three people to have transported women to the encounters and helped collect and transport the proceeds.
Mr. Simpson, the release says, helped to launder the money along with three others, and also paid to have sex with one of the ringleaders.
The ringleaders were identified as Sonya Palic, 46, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Charlotte Napolitano, 46, of Bedford, New Hampshire.
Each of them was charged with 19 counts of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, 19 counts of deriving support from prostitution and three counts of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude.
A charge of trafficking persons for sexual servitude does not mean
that the women who had sex for money were forced to do so. The statute
covers anyone who benefits from soliciting others to have sex for money.
The state in 2012 adopted a bill that establishes human trafficking for sexual servitude or labor as a crime and provides for penalties.
The attorney general’s office considers anyone “trafficked” under the law to be a victim, and has two specialized victim advocates to help those people. They are not arrested.
Caleb Gerry, 23, of Gardner, was charged with one count of trafficking persons for sexual servitude and one count of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, Ms. Healey’s office wrote in a news release.
Eric Simpson, 44, of Mendon, was charged with one count of money laundering, one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of paying for sex. Both are to be arraigned at an unspecified date in Middlesex Superior Court.
According to the release, the men are two of 10 people arrested in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in connection with chloescompanions.com, a purported “escort service” that served as a front for prostitution.
The suspected ringleaders of the website were two New Hampshire women arrested in February for allegedly arranging for women to have sex for money through the site. Between 12 and 15 women were trafficked on the website at any given time, Ms. Healey’s office said. She alleged that most of the money from the encounters went to the ringleaders.
According to the release, Mr. Gerry was one of three people to have transported women to the encounters and helped collect and transport the proceeds.
Mr. Simpson, the release says, helped to launder the money along with three others, and also paid to have sex with one of the ringleaders.
The ringleaders were identified as Sonya Palic, 46, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Charlotte Napolitano, 46, of Bedford, New Hampshire.
Each of them was charged with 19 counts of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, 19 counts of deriving support from prostitution and three counts of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude.
The state in 2012 adopted a bill that establishes human trafficking for sexual servitude or labor as a crime and provides for penalties.
The attorney general’s office considers anyone “trafficked” under the law to be a victim, and has two specialized victim advocates to help those people. They are not arrested.
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