Brooklyn Man Charged with Sex Trafficking of Child

NEWARK, N.J. – A Brooklyn, New York, man was charged with child sex trafficking and related offenses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Soauib Butcher, 30, of Brooklyn, is charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking of a minor, and transporting a minor to engage in commercial sexual activity. He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court and was detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In August 2019, Butcher induced a minor victim, whom he met on social media, to run away from a group home and meet him at a train station in Somerville, New Jersey. Butcher brought the victim by train to New York City, where he instructed the victim to perform oral sex for money on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Several days later, Butcher brought the victim to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where, from August 2019 to January 2020, the victim stayed with Butcher and a conspirator in a series of motel rooms. The conspirator posted advertisements depicting the victim on escort websites and, together with Butcher, arranged for customers to come to the motels to have sex with the victim in exchange for money. 

Each of the crimes charged in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum term of life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Webman of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.