A 23-year-old Hyde Park man and a 27-year-old Dorchester man are facing an array of child sex-trafficking and enticement charges after separate arrests carried out on outstanding warrants, Boston Police announced. Ted Petit Frere was taken into custody at about 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, August 20, near 66 West Street in Hyde Park, while Sebastien Francois was arrested weeks earlier, on July 27, at about 7:20 p.m. outside 23 District Avenue in Dorchester.
According to Newport Dispatch, the Boston Police Department's Human Trafficking Unit arrested both men on outstanding warrants. Petit Frere's warrant, issued by West Roxbury District Court, alleged trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude, enticement for sex involving a child under 16, electronic enticement for sex involving an actual child under 18, statutory rape, and posing or exhibiting a child in a sexual act. Francois's warrant, issued by Dorchester District Court, alleged trafficking a person under 18 for sexual services, electronic enticement of a child for human trafficking, enticing a child under 16, aggravated statutory rape of a child, posing or exhibiting a child in a sexual act, assault and battery, and selling or delivering liquor to a person under 21.
Francois was taken into custody by District C-11 officers working alongside the Human Trafficking Unit. The arrest site sits inside South Bay Center, a dense open-air retail and restaurant complex in North Dorchester adjacent to Interstate 93, according to EDENS, the property's owner. Boston Police confirmed the details of both arrests on Friday, stating that detectives are actively continuing their investigation into both cases.
Severe Penalties Under State Law
Both men were wanted on charges tied to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 50, which makes trafficking a person under 18 for sexual servitude punishable by five to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $25,000, according to Massachusetts state law. The statute is notably rigid: anyone convicted cannot have the mandatory minimum five-year sentence suspended or reduced, and they are ineligible for probation, parole, work release, or good-conduct sentence deductions until that minimum is served.
It remains unclear whether Petit Frere and Francois operated together or were apprehended through unrelated investigations, and no additional co-conspirators or victims have been publicly identified. Arraignment schedules for both men have not yet been disclosed. As with any pending case, the allegations against both men remain unproven in a court of law.
A Pattern of Enforcement Near South Bay
Cases like these are typically prosecuted through the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, which operates a dedicated Human Trafficking and Exploitation Unit offering specialized prosecution and victim advocacy, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. The unit's warrant operations often rely on coordination among local district officers, the Massachusetts State Police High Risk Victims Squad, and federal task forces, per the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
The South Bay Mall and Massachusetts Avenue corridors in Dorchester have repeatedly drawn law enforcement attention over the past year. Hoodline previously reported on a multi-agency sting that led to 13 arrests near South Bay Mall in June 2025, followed by another operation resulting in nine arrests the following month. Boston Police have also made a string of related arrests across the city this year, including a Dorchester warrant arrest in July and a separate paid-sex sting in June that netted seven arrests.
National Trends and Where to Get Help
The scale of the problem extends well beyond Boston. The National Human Trafficking Hotline received 32,309 substantive signals nationwide in 2024, identifying 11,999 potential trafficking cases involving 21,865 potential victims, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal prosecutions have also climbed, with the Bureau of Justice Statistics reporting an 18 percent rise in federal human trafficking prosecutions between 2013 and 2023, reaching 1,213 defendants charged in fiscal year 2023.
Boston Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Human Trafficking Unit at 617-343-6533. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS, through the Boston Police Crime Stoppers website, or by texting a tip to CRIME (27463). Local victims of trafficking can additionally access specialized support through the Support to End Exploitation Now program based at the Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County, per the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
