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A woman has been sentenced to 50 years in state prison for forcing a 17-year-old girl to act as a sex slave at hotels in Mercer County three years ago, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Ashley Gardener, 32, of Trenton, received her sentence in Mercer County Superior Court on Thursday.
She was convicted by a Mercer County jury in October 2019 of first degree conspiracy, first degree human trafficking, second degree facilitating human trafficking, first degree promoting prostitution of a minor, first degree promoting organized street crime and second degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker and Parsippany Police Chief Andrew Miller announce the arrest of Mcquacy Goodridge, 28, of West Orange, NJ. Goodridge has been charged with four counts of Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault, Promoting Prostitution, Criminal Coercion, and Terroristic Threats.
Morris County, NJ. Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker and Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department Chief Andrew Miller, announce the arrest of Mcquacy Goodridge, 28, West Orange. Goodridge has been charged with four counts of Human Trafficking, in violation of N.J.S.A.
In Englewood, NJ. the “Sex Trafficking: In Our Backyard” panel discusses how sex trafficking is taking place in our own communities. “Young people are often groomed by sexual predators, who may even be their friends and neighbors, by advertisements and by what they see on social media.” Teen girls report being recruited by sex traffickers on Instagram. #usiaht #endhumantrafficking
Two South Jersey men, Barry “Bear” Schiff, 52, of Galloway, and Kenneth J. Crowell, 35, of Blackwood, ran an organized sex trafficking ring stretching into Pennsylvania, coercing and forcing six young women into sex work and collecting the profits. One victim told police that Schiff threatened to “chop her up into little pieces and throw her in the river” when she said she didn’t want to work for him anymore.
Posters offering victims of human trafficking a way out will soon be posted in 48 bathrooms in 17 rest areas along two major toll highway rest area bathrooms, New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, as part of a multi-agency initiative to help those being trafficked.
All of the men are accused of reaching out to the undercover officers, believing they were children, and making arrangements to meet for sex at a Somerset County residence in N.J., when no one else was home. The officers posed as underage girls or boys on social media platforms to target online predators.
In New Jersey, Aldophus Mims, a 42 year old male from Charlotte, North Carolina was sentenced to forty (40) years in a New Jersey State Prsion after being found guilty of four counts of first degree Human Trafficking, three counts of first degree Promoting Prostitution, two counts of second degree Sexual Assuault, one count of third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and two counts of third degree Distribution of Heroin.
New Jersey Rabbi Aryeh Goodman, 37, of East Brunswick, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in the human trafficking and prostitution of a 17-year old girl. Goodman met the teen at a hotel and paid to have sex with her after answering an online advertisement for the girl, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. At the time of his arrest, he was running a religious learning center out of his home.
News that Epstein, a billionaire who made his money as a financier, used Teterboro as home base for his fleet of private planes, and that he allegedly trafficked underage girls through the airport, was first reported last week by NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.