Burlington Man Forced Women into 'Sexual Slavery'

BOSTON – A 38-year-old Burlington man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to sex trafficking charges, admitting he forced three women into "sexual slavery'' by providing them with drugs and threatening them with violence, according to Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb.

Barry Davis, 38, of Burlington , pleaded guilty to three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion and three counts of interstate transportation with intent to engage in prostitution.

“Sex trafficking is a deplorable crime which steals the dignity of young, vulnerable victims,” Weinreb said. “Individuals who seek to profit from the trafficking and abuse of others, and to enforce their will with violence, have no place walking the streets and preying on victims.”

Federal prosecutors say that in April 2015, Davis met a young woman at a driving's education class and enticed her to leave with him by promising to take care of her and provide a steady supply of heroin. Davis drove her to New Jersey, rented a hotel room and posted an advertisement for sex with her online.

Davis took the money she made having sex with men and used heroin, physical abuse and threats of further harm to force the woman to follow his rules and prostitute for him.

In August 2015, Davis engaged in a similar scheme after he picked up two young women from a heroin detox center and drove them to Connecticut. There, he rented a hotel room, posted online advertisements for sex with the women, and took the money they made having sex with men who responded to the ads.

Davis again used heroin to coerce the women to prostitute for him. Davis also hit one of the women for breaking one of his rules and threatened to beat the other woman if she did not make enough money prostituting for him.

“Barry Davis’ victims can never regain what was taken from them when they were forced into a life of sexual slavery,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Boston.

“But they can perhaps take some small comfort in knowing Davis is facing a significant sentence for his crimes. HSI has a long history of victim-centric support and will continue to provide victim assistance to these women. Further, HSI is proud of the work we’ve jointly accomplished in this matter with our law enforcement partners across New England,'' Etre said.

“I want to commend the work of the Boston Police Human Trafficking Unit and all the law enforcement agencies involved with this case,” said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. “Together we are committed to ending the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women who are victimized by predators like this defendant. Prostitution is not a victimless crime. We will continue to target those who engage in this type of criminal behavior.”

Each charge of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to a lifetime in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

Each charge of interstate transportation of an individual with the intent to engage in prostitution provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

If the Court accepts the plea agreement, Davis will be sentenced to between 15 and 20 years in prison. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.