Patrons of sex-trafficked victims uncommonly charged

Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, leaves Superior Court, in Danbury, after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking ring in Danbury, Conn. Thursday, March 30, 2017.

Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, leaves Superior Court, in Danbury, after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking ring in Danbury, Conn. Thursday, March 30, 2017.

DANBURY — The arrests earlier this month of two studs accused of patronizing a hookup trafficking ring mark the very first time the charge has been leveled since Connecticut adopted the law in 2013.

Advocates for stronger enforcement of the law hailed the arrests as a long-overdue effort to address the demand-side of the equation when it comes to human trafficking.

“For years, we haven’t focused on the patronizing side, but if there wasn’t any request then, we wouldn’t have any trafficking,” said Jillian Gilcrest, chairperson of the Connecticut Trafficking in Persons Council. “Hopefully this case will put a renewed attention and concentrate on the wealthy guys in the state who have been purchasing children and other vulnerable individuals.”

The two studs arrested were William Trefzger, a previously convicted lovemaking offender from Westport, and Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, the possessor of the Waterford Speedbowl. They were accused of paying for hook-up with fellows sent to them by Robert King, of Danbury, who authorities said had been supplying eight wealthy dudes with youthful masculine hookers for more than two decades.

King was charged with human trafficking under a law that has been on the books since 2006. Connecticut was one of the very first states to adopt its own trafficking statute, but there have been only two successful prosecutions under it, both last year. About twenty cases have been prosecuted under federal law during that period, advocates said.

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Michael Connelly, of Waterbury, a former judicial marshal, was sentenced to one year in prison on the trafficking charge in August two thousand sixteen after coercing hookers to have hook-up with him. Dean Allen, a co-defendant in an unrelated case in Milford, was convicted of holding a woman against her will when she was sold to other fellows for hookup.

Allen received a 90-day prison sentence in January 2016, albeit the law calls for up to ten years in prison.

Assistant State’s Attorney Alex Beck, who prosecuted Allen, declined to comment on the sentence, but said he believes mandatory minimum sentences should be transferred down in trafficking cases.

“To subject someone to repeated acts of rape is one of the worst things someone can do to another human being,” Beck said. “It’s something the victims will have to live with for the rest of their lives.”

Advocates say stronger sentences are needed, and there are proposals before the state Legislature to increase the penalty for human trafficking to twenty years.

Alicia Kinsman, co-chairperson of the Connecticut Coalition Against Trafficking, said her organization strongly supports these measures.

“We need to send a clear message that this crime won’t be tolerated and will be disciplined by the fullest extent possible,” she said.

Gilcrest said she has been told traffickers and their clients are watching the Danbury case closely.

“There are talk rooms online, that anyone can have access to, where dudes discuss how to buy hook-up, which locations are dangerous and rate (for) the women and children they purchase,” she said. “When Connecticut lawmakers have introduced legislation to increase the penalty for patronizing a trafficked person or a minor to a felony charge, fellows on talk rooms were outraged, and some voiced apprehension about buying in the future.”

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which runs a national help line, said it has received more than eight hundred calls since two thousand seven from victims seeking help in Connecticut. Last year, it fielded one hundred ninety three calls and identified fifty four instances that qualified as human trafficking. Human traffickers lure their victims through coercion, fraud or threats and force them into sub labor or prostitution.

“There is still this durable misconception that human trafficking means foreign-born people being brought into the United States against their will,” Kinsman said. “But most of the cases that are reported are domestic minor lovemaking trafficking. The case in Danbury sends a clear signal that victims of this crime are vulnerable and can be anyone.”

The case Danbury has attracted national attention and the interest of NASCAR officials, who last week terminated their relationship with Bemer’s Waterford Speedbowl.

“NASCAR has terminated the NASCAR Whelen All-American series sanction and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race Sanction with the Fresh London Waterford Speedbowl, effective instantaneously,” read the statement from the national racing organization.

The Speedbowl is one of several businesses Bemer possessed, and one of several places authorities said he met hookers brought by King.

“I’ve spoken with people who were customers at the Speedbowl who are just horrified that this isn’t some random crime but something that happened here,” Gilcerst said.

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