A 34-year-old Brockton man is facing a federal charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child after he allegedly responded to an undercover law enforcement advertisement, agreed that the girl pictured was young, and then showed up and paid $100 before agents took him into custody. Jonathan Durocher was arrested Wednesday during a sting operation targeting human trafficking and child sexual exploitation in Massachusetts, according to Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.
According to MassLive, Durocher responded on June 15 to a law enforcement advertisement posted on a website used to solicit prostitution, per Foley's office. The ad featured images of a young woman or girl and included a phone number that connected directly to an undercover officer. Durocher allegedly began texting with that officer, who told him the girl was underage, beautiful and experienced.
When the undercover officer asked him directly, “you good her being young?” Durocher allegedly agreed that the girl was young, the outlet reported. He then arrived at an agreed-upon undercover location and paid the officer $100 before he was taken into custody. Prosecutors said Durocher did not bring a condom to the meeting. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed in a release that Durocher was charged with one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child after allegedly responding to the advertisement for sexual intercourse with an under-age girl.
Court Appearance and Release Conditions
Durocher made an initial appearance in federal court in Worcester and was released on conditions that include no unsupervised contact with children, per the MassLive report. If convicted, he faces a sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison, according to Foley's office. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. 1591 makes it a crime to knowingly cause a person under 18 to engage in a commercial sex act, while Massachusetts law separately provides for a sentence of life or not less than five years for trafficking a minor for sexual servitude, per state statute.
Durocher worked at BAMSI Home in Brockton, a facility that serves adults needing daily living assistance due to developmental disabilities, brain injuries or other medical needs, per the MassLive report.
Part of a Wider World Cup Crackdown
Durocher's arrest is tied to a broader federal effort to counter human trafficking and child sexual exploitation before, during and after World Cup matches hosted in Boston. That effort, known as Operation Yellow Card, was launched this spring as a multi-agency initiative focused on commercial sex traffickers ahead of the tournament, bringing together Boston police, Massachusetts State Police, the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service, according to MassLive.
The U.S. Marshals Service said that since the initiative launched in April, 35 endangered missing children from Massachusetts had been recovered, per that same reporting. Later reporting from the Boston Globe put the total at 48 missing and endangered children in Massachusetts found through the campaign. The children have been reunited with family members or placed with protective service agencies, the Globe reported separately. It remains unclear whether any of the recovered children were forced into commercial sex work; officials have not stated that this occurred.
Investigations Still Unfolding
The U.S. Marshals Service said the operation has already generated investigations into suspected trafficking rings, multiple kidnappings and related crimes, according to the earlier MassLive report. Separately, the Globe reported that authorities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island arrested 13 people amid investigations aimed at cracking down on human trafficking and exploitation tied to the World Cup. Gillette Stadium in Foxborough was expected to host seven World Cup matches, with more than 2 million visitors expected to descend on the region, the Globe noted.
Officials have said large-scale international gatherings historically bring a heightened risk of predatory exploitation targeting vulnerable youth, though experts cautioned that trafficking tied to events like the World Cup is not a brand-new problem suddenly appearing because of FIFA, per the earlier MassLive report. In April, Maiko Eliezer De La Paz Plata, 39, of Haverhill, was arrested and charged with trafficking a person for sexual servitude and deriving support from prostitution, an earlier case tied to the same crackdown.
