Camden County Man Indicted for Forced Sex Trafficking

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Camden County, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges related to the forced sex trafficking of two women.

Joshua Kain Smith, 35, of Camden County, was charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.

Today’s indictment charges Smith with one count of sex trafficking and one count of attempted sex trafficking. The indictment alleges that Smith used force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to cause a person (identified as “FV 1” – Female Victim 1) to engage in prostitution, from which he benefitted financially, between Nov. 15, 2011, and March 15, 2012. The indictment also alleges that Smith attempted to use force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to cause a person (identified as “FV 2” – Female Victim 2) to engage in prostitution, from which he benefitted financially, between Dec. 1, 2010, and Nov. 15, 2011.

Smith is also charged with one count of transporting “FV 1” across state lines for prostitution and two counts of transmitting a threat. Smith allegedly threatened to kill “FV 2” on Nov. 8, 2011, and to kill the mother and brother of “FV 1” on Dec. 20, 2011.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia L. Cordes. It was investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Rescue Project.