HARRISONBURG, Va. (WVVA) – A Maryland man pled guilty in federal court today.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Virginia, William O’Neil Murray III, 36, pled guilty today to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Court documents show that Murray was engaging in a multistate sex trafficking operation that involved at least three adult women from December 2021 through July 2022 including in West Virginia and Virginia.
The Attorney’s Office said that Murray used his victims’ drug dependency to recruit and coerce them into sex work.
“Murray controlled his victims’ narcotics use, not allowing them to obtain drugs from anyone but himself, therefore taking complete control of each victim’s drug dependency,” The Attorney’s Office said. “Murray would withhold drugs from his victims if they did not follow his directions or engage in commercial sex.”
The court documents say that his victims said they became “dopesick” when Murray withheld drugs from them, and he was aware that withholding the drugs would incentive his victims to obey.
The Attorney’s Office said that Murray managed all aspects of the “commercial sex transactions” using various sex websites like Skipthegames.com to set up dates with commercial sex customers. He was also able to set the prices, book the hotel rooms, and transport his victims to the dates with these websites.
Murray’s control over the victims was described as “strict” as he managed everything they did from communication to their “dates.”
“Victims were not allowed to go anywhere without Murray’s permission and were punished if they did so,” said The Attorney’s Office.
The trafficking spanned eight states including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
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Publish date : 2024-08-12 07:40:00
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