An Orange NJ woman recently admitted to running a prostitution ring that operated throughout North Jersey, including South Hackensack.

According to prosecutors, the suspect ran the human trafficking operation with the assistance of her husband, her stepson, and two other women. The operators of the illegal business would allegedly coerce teen girls into becoming prostitutes by threatening to harm them if they failed to comply. The suspects would then allegedly advertise the victim’s sexual services on Backpage.com.

Clients would meet the teenage prostitutes at motels located in South Hackensack, Clifton, and elsewhere in New Jersey. It was reportedly the suspect and other co-conspirators who drove the underage victims to the meeting places.

South Hackensack police first opened an investigation into the suspect in October 2014 after seeing an online ad offering a teen girl as an escort. An undercover cop with the South Hackensack Police Department then arranged to meet the girl at a Route 46 motel. That meeting led to the arrests of the suspect and several other alleged co-conspirators in the human trafficking operation.

The suspect, a 32-year-old resident of Orange, was charged with multiple sex crimes, including promoting prostitution, because she allegedly played a vital role in the human trafficking of a 16-year-old girl who had run away from her family in Brooklyn, NY.

The Orange NJ suspect ultimately avoided trial in Bergen County Superior Court by reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. In exchange for the suspect pleading guilty to human trafficking charges, Bergen County prosecutors agreed to recommend that she be sentenced to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison. Under the terms of the suspect’s plea agreement, she will not be eligible for release on parole for at least 39 months.

NJ Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino issued an announcement about the suspect’s guilty plea. Porrino noted that the suspect “helped her husband trap a vulnerable girl in a miserable life of sexual slavery.” Porrino also said that the suspect “will face a lengthy term behind bars for her role in the brutal exploitation” of the teen runaway.

To learn more about this case, see the NJ.com article, “Woman Admits Role in Trafficking Teen Runaway, Authorities Say.”