U.S. Department
of Justice
Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Minors
The Office regularly brings prosecutions against individuals alleged to have engaged in labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of minors. This critical work is led by experienced prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit and in the Office’s White Plains Division. Recent work in this area includes the following:
- Mount Vernon Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking A Minor: In February 2026, Rai Thomas was sentenced to 160 months in prison after a jury found him guilty after a trial of sex trafficking of a minor and use of interstate facilities to promote sex trafficking. Between January and February 2022, Thomas trafficked a minor victim to engage in commercial sexual activity across multiple hotels within the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. The minor victim had been living in a children’s group home at the time that Thomas trafficked her. Thomas facilitated and benefited from the scheme in numerous ways, including by enticing the minor victim to engage in commercial sex; coordinating the transportation of the minor victim to hotels; reserving the hotel rooms in which she engaged in commercial sex; facilitating the advertisement of the minor victim on the internet to customers for commercial sex; and profiting from the sex trafficking scheme.
- Alexander Brothers Charged with Sex Trafficking Offenses: In December 2024, the Office charged three brothers, Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander, and Tal Alexander with sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. As alleged in the indictment, from in or about 2010 through in or about 2021, the Alexander brothers worked together and with others to engage in sex trafficking, including by repeatedly drugging, sexually assaulting, and raping dozens of female victims. Using their wealth and connections, including Oren and Tal Alexander’s prominent positions in real estate, the Alexander brothers created and facilitated opportunities to sexually assault women. The Alexander brothers used the promise of luxury experiences, travel, and accommodations to lure and entice women to these events, and then—on multiple occasions—forcibly raped and sexually assaulted women who attended. At times, multiple men, including one or more of the Alexander brothers, participated in these sexual assaults. In many instances, the victims were drugged, and in some instances, the defendants physically restrained and held down their victims and ignored screams and explicit requests to stop. On March 9, 2026, a Manhattan federal jury convicted the Alexander brothers on all counts.
- Sean Combs Charged With Racketeering and Sex Trafficking Offenses: In September 2024, the Office charged Sean Combs, a/k/a “Puff Daddy,” a/k/a “P. Diddy,” a/k/a “PD,” a/k/a “Love,” with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Between in or about 2004 and the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced women and others, and led a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes. As alleged, Combs caused at least three female victims to engage in commercial sex acts using force, fraud, and coercion. These commercial sex acts included, but were not limited to, days-long sexual activity with male commercial sex workers, which Combs referred to as “Freak Offs.” Combs also committed multiple acts of violence, including kidnapping and assaults. On one occasion, Combs dangled a victim over an apartment balcony. A jury found him guilty on July 2, 2025, of two counts of transporting individuals for prostitution. On October 3, 2025, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison.
- College Professor Jorge Ramos Pled Guilty to Human Smuggling and Possession of Child Pornography: Jorge Ramos was charged with inducing and transporting two victims to travel interstate to engage in unlawful sexual activity and with smuggling and harboring a third victim, as well as child pornography offenses. Ramos induced the victims to travel from El Salvador to the United States with promises of a better life, including educational and other opportunities. Ramos paid human smugglers to transport the victims across the U.S. border. Once they arrived at Ramos’s apartment in the Bronx, Ramos raped, sexually assaulted, and sexually abused the victims. Ramos attempted to control the victims by, among other things, ordering the victims to stay inside his apartment, attempting to isolate the victims from other people, and threatening to report the victims to immigration officials for deportation back to El Salvador. In August 2024, Ramos pled guilty to three counts of human smuggling, and to one count of possession of child pornography. As part of his plea, Ramos admitted to sexually abusing all three victims. In February 2025, Ramos was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment.
- Former Rockland County Diving Coach Sentenced For Transporting Two Minors For Illegal Sex Activity: In September 2024, Victor Bryne, a former Rockland County diving coach, was sentenced to 220 months in prison for transporting two minors to engage in illegal sexual activity n 2006 and 2008. In July 2006, Byrne transported a 16-year-old minor (“Victim-1”) from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Rockland County, New York, and, once in New York, engaged in illegal sexual activity with Victim-1. In February 2008, Byrne arranged for a 16-year-old minor (“Victim-2”) to be transported from New Jersey to Rockland County, New York, and, thereafter, engaged in illegal sexual activity with Victim-2. From in or about 2001 through at least 2009, Byrne was a diving coach for competitive youth divers. He coached several teams of youth divers in and around Rockland County, New York. Byrne began abusing Victim-1 when she was 14 years old. For Victim-2, the abuse began when she was 16. To gain the trust of his victims and their families and others he coached, Byrne falsely held himself out as a police officer.
- Lawrence Ray Charged with Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Offenses: In January 2023, Lawrence Ray, a/k/a “Lawrence Grecco,” was sentenced to 60 years in prison following his conviction at trial for extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering offenses. Ray used physical and psychological threats and coercion to indoctrinate and exploit a group of college students in Westchester County, as well as other victims. Ray extorted approximately $1 million from at least five victims; forced certain victims to perform unpaid labor on a family member’s North Carolina property; and caused, through force, fraud, and coercion, at least one victim to engage in commercial sex acts. His alleged tactics included sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, physical violence, threats of criminal legal action, alienating the victims from their families, and exploiting the victims’ mental health vulnerabilities. Victims made payments to Ray by draining their parents’ savings, opening credit lines, soliciting contributions from acquaintances, selling real estate ownership, and at Ray’s direction, performing unpaid labor for Ray and earning money through prostitution. His codefendant Isabella Pollack pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to 54 months in prison.
- Former Obstetrician/Gynecologist Robert Hadden Convicted of Sexually Abusing Numerous Patients and Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison: In July 2023, Robert Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison following his conviction by a jury after a trial on charges for inducing victims to travel interstate to his medical offices in Manhattan so that he could sexually abuse them. Hadden, who practiced medicine between in or about 1987 to 2012, sexually abused dozens of patients over the course of more than two decades under the guise of purported medical examinations. To carry out the abuse, Hadden exploited the power differential inherent in the doctor-patient relationship, built rapport with victims, asked victims invasive and unprompted questions about their sexual activity, and conducted fake breast and vaginal exams.
- Former Bronx Public Charter School Teacher Pleads Guilty In Connection With Sexual Abuse Of Five Former Students: In September 2023, Jesus Concepcion, a former teacher at a public charter school in the Bronx, pled guilty to a 10-count indictment charging him in connection with the sexual abuse of five minor victims who were also his students. From 2000 until 2007, Concepcion abused his position as a teacher to induce and attempt to induce five of his students to engage in sexual acts by leading them to believe that they were in a romantic relationship with him. Concepcion engaged in sexual acts with four of the victims at multiple locations, including the school, a motel in New Jersey, and his home in New Jersey. The minor victims were as young as 12 years old at the time of the abuse. In September 2024, Concepcion was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.
- Urologist Darius Paduch Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sexual Abuse of Patients: In April 2023, the Office charged urologist Darius Paduch with sexually abusing male patients, including minors, while Paduch was employed at a major New York City hospital. As alleged, beginning in at least 2015, Paduch sexually abused patients in his care, under the guise of providing medical treatment. Paduch required victims to masturbate in his presence, often while viewing pornography alongside them. He also insisted on masturbating victims himself, at times grabbing their genitals without warning. Paduch further engaged in sexually explicit communications with certain victims, including sending messages that referenced his own genitalia and masturbation habits. To perpetrate the abuse, Paduch directed victims to schedule follow-up appointments, to visit his office after regular business hours, and to see him outside the hospital setting. Following a two-week jury trial, Paduch was convicted of 11 counts relating to his sexual abuse of seven victims, including five minor victims. In November 2024, Paduch was sentenced to life in prison.
- Former Private School Teacher and Private Tutor Sentenced to 25 Years In Prison for Enticement of a Child and Possession of Child Pornography: In April 2023, John Mueser, a private school teacher and private tutor, was sentenced to 25 years in prison following his conviction by a jury for inducing a 7-year-old minor whom he was tutoring to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Mueser’s phone was found to contain hundreds of images, many of which were sexually explicit, of his 7-year-old victim as well as numerous sexually explicit images and videos of other prepubescent children. The Office’s investigation also revealed that, decades earlier, In November 2024, Paduch was sentenced to life in prison.
- Senior Leaders of Lev Tahor Sect Sentenced For Kidnapping and Sex Trafficking Crimes: In July 2024, senior leaders of Lev Tahor were sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison for kidnapping and sex trafficking crimes after their conviction at trial. Lev Tahor is an extremist religious sect that has been located in several different jurisdictions, including New York, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. Lev Tahor leaders embraced several extreme practices, including forced family separations, child marriages, and underage sex. In 2017, Lev Tahor leaders arranged for a 12-year-old girl, Minor-1, to be “married” to a then-18-year-old man. Though they were never legally married, they were religiously “married” the following year, when Minor-1 was 13 and her “husband” was 19. Lev Tahor leadership required young brides such as Minor-1 to have sex with their husbands, to tell people outside Lev Tahor that they were not married, and to lie about their ages. For example, Lev Tahor leaders instructed child brides to deliver babies inside their homes instead of at a hospital to conceal the mothers’ young ages from outsiders. In October 2018, the mother of Minor-1 determined that it was no longer safe for her children to remain in the Lev Tahor community, which was then living in Guatemala. The mother escaped from the group’s compound, arrived in the U.S. in early November 2018, and was eventually joined by all six of her children, including Minor-1. Also in November 2018, a Brooklyn family court granted her sole custody of the children and prohibited the children’s father, a leader within Lev Tahor, from communicating with the children. After the mother fled and settled in New York with her children, the Lev Tahor leaders and their co-conspirators devised a plan to kidnap Minor-1, then 14 years old, to return her to Guatemala and to her then-20-year-old “husband.” In December 2018, they kidnapped Minor-1 and her brother in the middle of the night from a home in upstate New York and transported them through various states and, eventually, to Mexico. In order to carry out the kidnapping, the defendants used disguises, aliases, drop phones, fake travel documents, and an encrypted application. At the time of the kidnapping, Lev Tahor leaders were seeking asylum for the entire Lev Tahor community in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following a three-week search involving hundreds of local, federal, and international law enforcement entities, Minor-1 and Minor-2 were recovered in Mexico and returned to New York. In March 2019 and March 2021, members of Lev Tahor again tried to kidnap the children but were unsuccessful.
- Ghislaine Maxwell Convicted of Conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to Sexually Abuse Minors and Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison: In June 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in conspiring to abuse minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Over the course of a decade, Maxwell and Epstein worked together to identify girls, groom them, and then entice them to travel and transport them to Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and elsewhere. The girls — some of whom were as young as 14 years old — were then sexually abused, often under the guise of a “massage.” Maxwell was convicted at trial in December 2021.