Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. GREWAL announced that four people are facing human trafficking charges after they allegedly forced underage girls into prostitution at a township motel.
South Hackensack Police Department received a report of females being forced to engage in prostitution in South Hackensack, on Sunday, Oct. 2nd.
The South Hackensack Police Department conducted an initial investigation and located three juvenile female victims of human trafficking, who had been transported to a South Hackensack motel for the purposes of engaging in prostitution. The South Hackensack Police Department subsequently notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and a joint investigation ensued.
As a result of the ensuing
investigation, Edwin A. Boneta and Jefferson Contreras were arrested today and were each charged with the following offenses: three counts of human trafficking, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-8a, a 1st degree crime; three counts of promoting prostitution of a Juvenile, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:34-1b(3), a 1st degree crime; and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a, a 3rd degree crime.
In addition, Selena Boneta was arrested today and charged with three counts of facilitation of human trafficking, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-9a, a 2nd degree crime, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a, a 3rd degree crime.
The foregoing arrests were made in Suffolk County, New York, and each individual is scheduled for arraignment on October 13, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. in Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip, New York and will each be lodged in the Suffolk County Correctional Center pending their extradition to New Jersey.
Stephanie Boneta was arrested and charged with three counts of Facilitation of Human Trafficking, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-9a, a 2nd degree crime, and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a, a 3rd degree crime. The Honorable Susan J. Steele, P.J.Cr. of Bergen County set bail at $225,000.00 with no ten percent cash option.
As conditions of bail, Stephanie Boneta is to have no contact with the victims or the victims’ family and must surrender her passport.
She was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail. She is scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court for a first appearance on October 31, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.