Post by Scumhunter on Feb 8, 2024 6:31:02 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: nj.com)
From nj.com:
State authorities are seeking the public’s help finding a retired corrections officer who never showed up for his September child sex trafficking trial.
Kurt Young, 56, of Dennis Township in Cape May County, was accused in 2020 of paying a pair of traffickers to bring a 14-year-old girl to his home for sex.
The pair, Derrick V. Ross and Tiffany Davis, were convicted at separate trials last year.
Authorities say they arrested the two after a State Police detective responded to an escort ad and met the girl at an Atlantic City casino during a sting operation. Their investigation found Ross and Davis had been exploiting the girl, who was not related to either of them, in a trafficking operation around South Jersey.
Young was accused of paying them to bring the girl to his Dennis Township home in Cape May County and faces charges including conspiracy to commit human trafficking, child prostitution, sexual assault and child endangerment.
But he never showed for jury selection — and authorities haven’t seen him since.
State Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office issued the public alert on Tuesday, asking anyone with information on Young’s whereabouts to call 1-877-WANTED-2. The U.S. Marshals are also offering a cash reward for information leading to his arrest, the statement said.
Young’s listed attorney did not return a message seeking comment. Court records show a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in September and revised in October.
Authorities did not explain why the public alert was issued more than four months after they lost track of Young, and details on the conditions of his pretrial release were not immediately available. A spokesman for Platkin did not immediately respond to a message seeking clarification.
J. Stephen Ferketic, the head of the state Division of Criminal Justice, which is prosecuting the case, said in the statement his office “has an unwavering commitment to the investigation of human trafficking.”
“We will relentlessly pursue those who commit these heinous crimes,” he said.
The girl Young is accused of sexually assaulting was “immediately connected with support services” after meeting the detective in the sting operation, authorities said at the time.
www.nj.com/news/2024/02/retired-corrections-officer-vanished-before-child-sex-trafficking-trial-authorities-say.html
Thoughts? Based on the above article posting date, Young was still at large at least as of February 6th, 2024.
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