Local News
The husband and wife were accused of advertising the victim to sex buyers online and trafficking the victim around New England.
A Worcester couple found guilty in federal court of sex trafficking a younger family member around New England were each sentenced to 18 years in prison, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Kiersten Soto, 32, and Moises Soto, 33, were arrested in 2022 and convicted in September of one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Kiersten Soto was also convicted of one count of traveling or using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activities.
The counts related to the interfamilial trafficking of a younger relative, prosecutors said previously.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced the husband and wife to 18 years in prison and five years of supervised release. The Sotos will also pay a $5,000 fine and mandatory restitution to the victim in the amount of $138,000, according to prosecutors.
What were the allegations?
Between February through May 2022, the Sotos were accused of advertising the victim to sex buyers online and trafficking the victim in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, the U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office said.
“Kiersten Soto regularly threatened the victim with violence, abandonment and involuntary commitment to a facility,” Foley’s office said. “Moises Soto used extreme physical violence including beatings, assaults with wooden dowel rods and choking if the victim failed to make enough money.”
The Sotos also recorded the abuse, according to prosecutors. Videos showed them “cornering the victim in their home, threatening her, berating her, calling her a snitch,” prosecutors said, “all while the victim suffered through agonizing drug withdrawals.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
