2002-05-01 -- Farfan, Sergio -- Criminal Complaint -- News Release

Union County Social Worker Accused of Engaging Captive Mexican Girls in Acts of Prostitution

NEWARK - A Union County social worker was accused today in a federal criminal complaint of engaging in acts of prostitution with young girls he knew to be illegal aliens being held captive in Plainfield, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Sergio Farfan, 46, of Plainfield, is charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection with a prostitution ring that smuggled teenage girls from Mexico who were then confined and forced to work as prostitutes in Plainfield. (See March 25 news release on earlier arrests in this case at our website: www.njusao.org )

Farfan was first arrested on April 25 and charged by the Union County Prosecutor's Office with official misconduct. Farfan, who had been in state custody, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan D. Wigenton, who set bail on the federal charge at $100,000. Farfan will remain in federal custody until or unless he makes bail.

According to the complaint, Farfan, a counselor at the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, is accused of patronizing a house of prostitution at 12-12½ West Front Street in Plainfield. There, according to the complaint, he paid for sex with prostitutes, including at least one of four teenage girls smuggled from Mexico. The complaint alleges that he knew the girls were captive and, in fact, held himself out as a lawyer to at least one of them, who he told he would help to escape though never did.

"This is a combination of some of the worst criminal behavior possible in our society," Christie said. "As a counselor, this defendant was employed to be part of a solution for people in trouble. Instead he allegedly participated in and condoned the trafficking of teenagers into slave-like prostitution."

After the four Mexican girls were arrested along with other prostitutes during a Feb. 22 raid by Plainfield Police, Farfan allegedly assisted the "madames" who ran the brothel in attempting to gain their release by submitting fraudulent proof-of-age documents. A state court judge had already made a determination that the girls were juveniles, prompting Farfan and the others to attempt to use fake identification to get them released on bail, according to the complaint.

A federal investigation followed the Feb. 22 raid at the suspected brothel. On March 23, six people were charged in a criminal complaint - four of them were arrested - with smuggling four teenage girls from Mexico and holding them captive for use as prostitutes.

As an accessory after the fact, Farfan faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a $125,000 fine. Each of the six defendants identified in March are charged with conspiracy to commit the trafficking of children, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 fine.

The four teenage girls were lured from Mexico by two of the defendants after brief courtships and promises of marriage and a better life in the United States, according to the March 25 criminal complaint. The girls were allegedly told by these men that their sister in New Jersey could provide them with good work in the United States. Once here, however, they were virtually enslaved and forced to perform acts of prostitution at a rate of $35 per "John."

New tools were given to federal authorities in prosecuting such crimes with the enactment in October 2000 of the Victims of Sex Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. The prime sponsor of the law was New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith. The defendants are charged in part under this law (18 U.S.C. §1591(a)(1).

The charges contained in the criminal complaints are merely accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted of a crime.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, under the direction of District Director Andrea Quarantillo; Special Agents of the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John McGlynn, officers with the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jack Simon; officers with the Plainfield Police Department, under the direction of Chief Edward Santiago, and detectives with the Union County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Thomas V. Manahan, with bringing the case against the defendants.

The cases are being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Holmsen of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Newark, and Trial Attorney Hilary Axam of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division in Washington.

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Defense Counsel:

Michael Sullivan, Esq. Morristown