Worcester Man Charged With Trafficking Teenage Girl, Locking Her In His Home

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester man is facing several charges, including human trafficking and the rape of a child, after police say he paid to have a teenaged girl brought over illegally from El Salvador to live with him in his Worcester home.

On Friday, Jan. 13, Worcester police detectives working out of the Special Crimes Division were contacted by the Worcester County District Attorney’s office regarding a potential case of Human Trafficking.

The Worcester Public Schools filed the report, indicating that a 14-year-old female had been enrolled in school for several weeks, but hadn't been attending classes on a regular basis.

Detectives investigated, and talked to the teen, along with several witnesses. According to detectives, the young female had met the suspect, later identified as Luis Santos, 22, Worcester, through Facebook. The victim at that time lived in El Salvador, with the suspect eventually paying $5,000 to have the victim illegally smuggled across the border into the United States, said police.

The girl arrived in the states in mid-December of last year, and was brought to Worcester, where she moved into an apartment with Santos on Kingsbury Street. Police learned that the victim told Santos that she did not want a romantic relationship with him. However, Santos forced the victim to sleep in the same bed as him, and on more than one occasion sexually touched the victim against her will, said police. It was also discovered that Santos prevented the victim from attending school, locked her in the bedroom, and refused to let her use the phone.

After approximately 3 weeks of staying with Santos, the victim was allowed to leave the house to attend school. At this time, she reached out to family friends from El Salvador who currently live in Worcester and went to stay with them out of fear of returning to Santos’ apartment.

Police were subsequently able to contact Santos over the telephone. Santos agreed to come to the police station to speak with Detectives. After speaking with Santos, Detectives placed him under arrest. He is being charged with Kidnapping, Rape of a Child with Force, Human Trafficking of a Minor, and three counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Person 14 or Older.

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