Terrance Jones accused of running a human trafficking ring in Oxford Circle

A 52-year-old man and five of his associates have been accused of running a human trafficking ring in Northeast Philadelphia, enticing vulnerable young women to work for them, then giving them drugs and forcing them to have sex with men throughout the region. The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

For the past 12 years, Terrance Jones has operated a commercial sex business out of his home on the 800 block of Disston Street, in Lawndale, Attorney General Michelle Henry said. Jones promoted his business online, called “GFE” or “the Girlfriend Experience,” and connected with young women in their 20s, most of whom were struggling with addiction and desperate for money and housing, Henry said.

When women contacted the organization, Henry said, Jones would pose as a woman, change his voice to a higher pitch and say his name was Julie or Julia to gain their trust. He told the women he could have a driver pick them up and take them on “dates” where they could earn more than $250 and score drugs, she said. He used the women to lure other drug-addicted victims into the scheme, telling a confidante that he could “‘wash them up’ and make money from them,” according to Jones’ probable cause affidavit. arrest.

“This case is about greed and control,” Henry said at a news conference on Tuesday. “He made these women feel worthless. He controlled them, manipulated them and in a sense programmed them so that this was their only option.”

Pennsylvania State Police investigators learned of the ring in 2021 after a confidential informant contacted police saying they feared a friend was being trafficked. Investigators met the woman at a motel and she said she had just come out of a sober living home in South Philadelphia when she made contact with Jones’ organization.

She appeared physically and mentally impaired, the affidavit said, and told officials that she was taken to four “dates” in one night and that the driver — later identified as Jones’ business partner Thomas Reilly — then forced her to have sex with him . in exchange for a place to sleep. Reilly gave her drugs, and the woman said she felt “trapped” and “didn’t feel free to leave,” according to the records.

» READ MORE: A woman who was trafficked as a child will receive $9.3 million in settlements with a foster care agency and the Days Inn hotel

After meeting the woman, officials launched a three-year investigation during which they tapped phone calls, acted as undercover sex workers and buyers, and tracked down Jones’ clients, the affidavit said. Investigators found that the operation spanned the suburbs from Philadelphia to New Jersey, and that Jones arranged 78 “dates” in just 10 days in 2023, the filing said. The amount of money the women received varied, Henry said, but Jones pocketed most of the money.

Jones’ business associates included his 29-year-old daughter, Natoria, who Henry said handled financial affairs and payments between the women and clients.

Terrance Jones has been charged with human trafficking, involuntary servitude, operating a corrupt organization, operating a house of persecution and related crimes. Natoria Jones has been charged with furthering unlawful acts and running a corrupt organization, while Reilly has been charged with rape, conspiracy, corrupt organizations and nearly a dozen other crimes.

Three other men – James Rudolph, Joseph Franklin and Rhaheem Hill – are accused of taking the women to the paid sexual encounters and have been charged with similar crimes.

Sixteen men who used Jones’ organization to solicit women for sex were also arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy and promoting prostitution. Many contacted Jones’ company hundreds of times over the course of eight months, investigators said, and some requested sex as many as 10 times in just 20 days.

Jones has run the organization since 2012, the affidavit said, and before the coronavirus pandemic, he often forced the women to have sex with him as part of the “interview process” to work with his company. The women would contact “Julie,” who would tell them they would first need to meet with an old client to see if they were good enough for the job, the affidavit said. In reality it was Jones, and he was going to give them drugs and set them up trafficked for prostitution according to the report.

Officials have identified more than a dozen women who Henry said were trapped in the scheme for months, and believe there are many more who have not come forward. The women are offered trauma and addiction support to restart their lives, she said.

Henry encouraged anyone who may have been a victim of Jones — or other sex crimes — to call state police at 215-452-5239 or text the human trafficking hotline at 233733.