PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Kevin Smith, 27, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged by Indictment with sex trafficking by force and sex trafficking a minor. The charges against the defendant stem from his operation of a sex trafficking ring in Philadelphia and the surrounding region—including Bucks and Delaware counties.

The Indictment alleges that for about seven days at the end of September 2019, Smith knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, maintained a minor for the purposes of forcing that minor to engage in commercial sex acts in Philadelphia.  It also alleges that Smith operated a sex trafficking enterprise at various times over a period of two years from July 2015 to July 2017, during which he used physical threats to force three different young adult victims to have sex for money.

“The crimes Smith is accused of committing are some of the most devastating to victims that our office prosecutes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “Allegedly, this defendant forced four young people, one a minor child, to sell their bodies for his financial gain. We will continue to work collectively to investigate these destructive crimes against the most vulnerable victims.”

“Using physical threats to control another human being, to force them into sexual exploitation, is unconscionable,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Kevin Smith allegedly did just that to three young women — and a child. The FBI will never stop working to find and help trafficked victims, to protect them from further abuse and keep their traffickers from hurting anyone else.”

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the Bensalem Police Department, the Media Borough Police Department, the Tinicum Township Police Department and the Philadelphia Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Metcalf and Brittany Jones.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.