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Press Release

Guilty Verdicts Returned Against Pair Of Sex Traffickers

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – A federal jury today returned guilty verdicts against Kevino Graham, 34, and Raffael Robinson, 30, both of Philadelphia, PA, on the charge of sex trafficking by force.  Graham was convicted of two counts of sex trafficking by force and one count of attempted sex trafficking by force; Robinson was convicted of the single count against him.  U.S. District Court Judge C. Darnell Jones scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 26, 2016.  Co-defendants Brian Wright and Renato Teixera pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

 

Between May 2009 and August 2013, the defendants ran a striptease club and brothel, which they called “Passionate Touch,” at a property they leased in the Cathedral Park section of Philadelphia.  Graham advertised this business on a website he created for Passionate Touch, in advertisements on Backpage.com, and he had business cards handed out in local communities.  Graham engaged in sadistic acts of violence toward the victims personally, and at times directed his co-defendants to do so, to cause the victims to engage in commercial sex acts. Raffael Robinson worked for Graham, providing security at the business and running errands for the business Robinson benefitted financially and personally engaged in acts of violence toward one of the victims.  Graham ran the club while Wright collected the money and Teixeira helped to recruit females to work for the venture and posted prostitution advertisements for the females.  Between September 1, 2011 and January 31, 2012, all of the defendants engaged in acts of force, threats, fraud and coercion to cause young women to engage in prostitution.

 

Graham and Robinson each face a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison with a maximum possible sentence of life, a possible fine, at least five years of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment. 

 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims’ Unit and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Morgan.

Updated February 5, 2016