Sex Trafficker Uses Woburn Hotel as Rendezvous Point, Arrested: Police

A Wareham man accused of using a Woburn hotel as a rendezvous point for his sex trafficking service was arraigned this week after a sting operation by police, authorities said.

Antoine Harris, 43, was arraigned Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court and charged with human trafficking, procuring a person to enter prostitution and being a habitual criminal.

Woburn Vice and Narcotics Unit members were investigation online advertisements offering sex for a fee last summer. On August 25, an undercover officer set up a meeting at a hotel on Commerce Way with one of the females on the website.

When the officer was set to meet the female, police allegedly saw Harris with her outside the hotel. Harris was doing "counter surveillance" outside the room they were scheduled to meet in, police said.

Harris spotted the officers and attempted to flee in his vehicle before being stopped in the parking lot by Woburn Police.

The room was registered to Harris.

Bail was set at $1,000. The case is scheduled to return to court March 7.

"The Woburn Police Department is deeply committed to preventing the proliferation of any type of human trafficking," Police Chief Robert Ferullo said. "The extremely hard work of the Woburn Police Department brought about this week’s arraignment and ensures that our community is safer.”

More than 20 million people - including children - are forced into labor and sex trafficking worldwide, according to the International Labour Organization.

“This is an example of a disturbing and growing trend of websites that use classified advertisements to solicit sexual services,” said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. “This case highlights the importance of online vigilance by law enforcement officials as human trafficking cases are not always easy to identify and they may often present as incidents of prostitution or sexual assault.”