Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that yesterday a Providence County Superior Court jury found Troy Footman (age 53), of Boston, guilty of two counts of sex trafficking a minor, two counts of pandering, and one count of operating a motor vehicle on a suspended license. The jury returned the verdict in just two hours after a weeklong trial before Superior Court Justice Susan McGuirl. Footman is facing a maximum of 91 years in prison.
During the course of the trial, the State proved that Footman developed a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old runaway. The girl moved into his home, and shortly after, Footman urged the teenager to get jobs dancing with the promise that she'd make a lot of money. He procured her a fake ID so she could dance at Cheaters, a strip club in Providence. Footman drove the young girl to and from the strip club to perform and took the money she made from dancing.
Soon after, Footman placed an advertisement on Backpage.com for the girl as an escort and arranged encounters at hotels and motels in Massachusetts. At Footman's direction, the young girl began to prostitute at Cheaters, where Footman would provide transportation to and from the club, buy clothing for her to wear while at the club, and identify men in the club to solicit. He set prices for sexual acts she performed and took her money at the end of each shift.
Providence Police were tipped off to the girl's whereabouts by Boston Police. Seekonk Police located another missing teenager at a Seekonk hotel. The teen indicated she was staying with Footman and her friend at the hotel, and that her friend was "Footman's girl" and that he was the girl's pimp. The teenager informed police that the other girl was working at Cheaters. Providence Police sent an undercover officer to Cheaters to investigate where he was solicited by the young girl identified as "Footman's girl" for sex.
Footman was convicted in Massachusetts in 1987 of sexual assault and convicted federally in 1999 of interstate transportation of a minor for prostitution.
"Troy Footman preys on vulnerable young girls, isolating them from family and friends, physically and sexually abusing them until they feel they have no choice but to do as he says. The defendant is much more than pimp; he is a violent sexual predator. Tragically, the facts of this case are not unusual. The explosive growth of websites like Backpage.com has made it easier than ever to traffic women and young girls for profit. In order to address the problem of human trafficking, we need to shut down the vehicles traffickers use. We need to put an end to websites like Backpage.com," said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.
"The victims left in the wake of the defendant's manipulations and abuse have a great deal of healing ahead of them. Thankfully, there are a number of wonderful agencies that offer services specifically to individuals who are victims of human trafficking, including Day One and Gaining Independence for Tomorrow," add Kilmartin.
Special Assistant Attorney General Sara Tindall-Woodman and Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Criminal Division Stacey P. Veroni and prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.