If you or someone you know needs resources of support related to sex trafficking, contact the Maine National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 for free 24/7 confidential services.
A Boston man will spend 30 years in prison for sex trafficking a Maine woman.
That sentence was handed down against Ricardo Middleton, 32, on Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He also will serve 10 years of supervised release.
In December, a jury found Middleton guilty of sex trafficking a 25-year-old woman living in South Portland, as well as instructing a co-defendant to not incriminate him.
Middleton targeted the woman, who was addicted to heroin, and coerced her into sex work, using drugs, lies, intimidation, violence and rape to control her, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Over a three-day period in November 2015, Middleton and his co-defendants — Sherry Jones of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Mathew Thatcher of Scarborough — trafficked the woman to several locations across Maine and Massachusetts.
During this time, Middleton berated the woman, slapped and punched her, threw pennies at her when she complained of hunger and asked for food, raped her and told her that he was “going to make a lot of money off” her, according to a summary of testimony provided by the U.S. attorney’s office.
“This significant sentence imposed by the court reflects the severity of the defendant’s exploitation of the victim over three days. He used drugs, threats, physical force and rape to force her to engage in commercial sex for his own profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “These acts were odious and intolerable. They denied the victim’s basic humanity. The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute human trafficking crimes to hold offenders accountable and to seek justice for survivors of these heinous crimes.”
Before the trial, Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and Thatcher pleaded guilty to interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Neither testified at Middleton’s trial in December.
Thatcher was sentenced to 44 months in prison and three years of supervised release on March 22, while Jones was sentenced to 80 months in prison and five years of supervised release on Monday, according to the Justice Department.
“Commercial sex trafficking traumatizes its victims and strips them of their freedom and dignity,” said Darcie N. McElwee, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maine. “Addressing this serious crime is a priority to my office. I commend the commitment of the law enforcement team that diligently worked this important case for years, always keeping the safety and recovery of Middleton’s vulnerable victim as the main priority.”
