Two individuals who allegedly forced a child into commercial sex acts at multiple hotels throughout Middlesex, Bergen and Essex counties appeared in court on April 10 with one of their alleged customers to face federal sex trafficking charges.
Richard Ortiz, 22, and Gabriella Colon, 18, both of the Bronx, New York, are charged by complaint with two counts of sex trafficking of a child and one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution, according to information provided by U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.
Aryeh Goodman, 35, of East Brunswick, is charged in a separate complaint with one count of sex trafficking of a child.
According to the complaints, Colon allegedly used her friendship with a 17-year-old girl from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to convince her to visit Colon in New York in January. Colon allegedly was prostituting herself to support herself and her boyfriend, Ortiz.
Shortly thereafter, Colon and Ortiz allegedly transported the victim to a hotel in New Jersey, where they allegedly took sexually explicit photographs her. Colon and Ortiz then allegedly posted those images and advertised the sexual services of the child on Backpage.com, according to officials.
When customers responded to the online advertisements, Colon or Ortiz allegedly would set up “dates” with the young woman, where they allegedly forced her to engage in commercial sex acts with those customers. Colon or Ortiz collected all of the proceeds and allegedly purchased a Jaguar, which they then used to transport the teen between New York and New Jersey to engage in additional sex acts, according to the complaints lodged against them.
Goodman, a registered sex offender and a rabbi in East Brunswick, was one of the individuals who allegedly responded to the advertisements Colon and Ortiz posted. After Goodman allegedly had sex with the minor, Goodman reportedly offered to pay for additional time with her and later invited her to travel to New York to meet him, according to the statement.
While Goodman was performing in a religious capacity at a Jewish religious center out of his home in East Brunswick, and may have affiliation with another center on Lexington Avenue in the township, he and his center are not affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch movement, according to a statement from Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief James Conroy of the East Brunswick Police Department.
Goodman turned himself in at the East Brunswick Police Department on Feb. 6, accompanied by his attorney, officials said.
According to a Pennsylvania State Police report obtained in 2013, a 23-year-old male told authorities in the summer of 2012 he had been assaulted by Goodman when he was 12 years old and attending Camp Menachem in Pike County, Pennsylvania, in 2001. Goodman was a counselor at the camp and would have been about 18 years old.
Regarding that incident, Goodman was charged with 12 counts of indecent assault of a juvenile. Under Pennsylvania state law, indecent assault is considered a first-degree misdemeanor since the complainant was under the age of 13 at the time of the alleged assault.
Goodman faced five years in prison on each count in connection with that incident. Neither Goodman’s attorney at the time, Michael E. Weinstein of Milford, Pennsylvania, nor the Pike County District Attorney’s Office could be reached.
The sex trafficking charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life imprisonment. The conspiracy to transport a minor to engage in prostitution charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment. Both charges carry a potential $250,000 fine.