ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A new report by our partners at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester exposes the crimes of one of that city's worst sex trafficking cases.
Stephen Jones is serving a 25 year prison sentence for running a sex trafficking ring that involved dozens of women. Court documents obtained by the Democrat and Chronicle show that Jones had as many as 30 women working for him through the years. Some were underage.
The documents also show Jones would bring some of the women and girls to motels in Lancaster. There was one girl who was only 16 when Jones took her to a Lancaster motel room to have sex with five to ten men a day to make money for Jones. Jones also made the women and girls get tattoos with either his name or the acronym “B.A.M.” which stands for his favorite saying, "By Any Means."
The newspaper interviewed prosecutors and members of the Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking for its report.
"Traffickers are notorious for picking up on vulnerabilities, so it's like they can recognize someone has low self-esteem, or self-hatred, or just not overly put together. So, they see that, and then they may start talking to you and find out that you're coming from a broken home and you don't have the social supports, you witnessed some violence, or you were sexually molested in your childhood," says Celia McIntosh with the Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking.
Prosecutors also call on motel operators to let police know if they see men going in and out of motel rooms where there are young girls staying. Prosecutors say if you don't say something, you are part of the problem.
You can see the rest of our "Selling Girls" series here.