Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Seattle, Washington (2007)

A sex trafficking case from 2007 in Seattle, Washington, United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Trafficker was indicted on June 21, 2007 for leading a human-smuggling ring that trafficked South Koreans into the United States through Canada. He pleaded guilty on April 7, 2008, and admitted that he smuggled between 25 and 99 Koreans into the United States. In July 2009, he was sentenced in a Seattle court to two years in federal prison, but had already served that time while he awaited the outcome of his case in the U.S. District Court. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release for conspiracy to smuggle and transport aliens into the United States. Prosecutors said they sought an unusually light sentence for Sohn because he cooperated with authorities who were investigating other similar smuggling operations. After Sohn was indicted, he helped agents crack other smuggling rings that had been using the same safe houses as Sohn’s group.

Response and intervention

See information above Some were arrested and deported to South Korea, but the whereabouts of others are unknown.

Nearby cases

All 892 in the United States →

Sex Trafficking2011

Seattle, Washington, United States, 2011

United States US

Convicted pimp Anthony "Mack" Terry was sentenced to 20 years in prison April 29, 2011. Terry, whose defense was that he was a drug dealer, not a pimp, was convicted in March 2011 of two counts of promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor, second-degree promoting prostitution, and witness tampering. King County Superior Court Judge Beth Andrus had just handed down the 20-year prison sentence when the courtroom phone rang. On the line was the teenage victim Terry had pimped out and later asked to lie for him in a series of recorded phone calls he made from inside the King County Jail. "I just want to say I was never a victim, and Anthony Terry was never my pimp," said the woman, whose call was put on the Court's speaker phone. The woman was 18 at the time of the sentencing but was 17 when Terry was twice arrested for pimping her out. Judge Andrus had already heard the woman's denials during Terry's bench trial, but apparently found them unpersuasive. In March 2011, Judge Andrus found Terry guilty of two counts of promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor, second-degree promoting prostitution, and witness tampering. During closing arguments in March 2011, Prosecutor O'Donnell played a series of recorded phone calls between Terry and the 17-year-old, in which Terry can be heard directing her to post photos of herself online to make money to bail him out and pay for an attorney. O'Donnell also held up a screen shot of Terry's MySpace page, which bore the words "pimp in action."

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor2023

Seattle, Washington, United States, 2023

United States

Micronesian couple brought an 18-year-old relative to the US with promises of education, then forced her into domestic servitude and hard labor while withholding her documents. Accused: Edk Kenit and Choimina Lukas of Longview, Washington.

1 source

Sex Trafficking2009

Seattle, Washington, United States, 2009

United States US

A nationwide "Operation Cross Country III" of police and federal agents arrested 35 people in Western Washington as part of a nationwide sweep aimed at curbing the sexual exploitation of children. 48 child prostitutes were rescued; 10 were from Washington State. 571 people were arrested for investigation of state and federal charges involving the domestic trafficking of children for sex.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016