Sentencing is scheduled for next year.
Frederick, Md (KM) A guilty plea was entered on Monday in Frederick County Circuit Court by a Washington DC man involved in human trafficking. Abiathar Abraham Vance, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of human trafficking.
Vance was arrested in late 2017 after police were called to the McDonald’s on South Jefferson Street in Frederick for an attempted abduction. State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says the victim, a 16-year-old girl from Prince George’s County who was listed as a runaway, told officers she was brought periodically from DC to Frederick for prostitution. “She said she’d see anyone from zero to six ‘dates’ as they call them per day at three different hotels in the Frederick area from November to December, 2017,” he says.
Smith says authorities were able to identify another victim who worked for Vance. . “She had advised that she met the defendant through an ad on Craig’s List. The victim advised that the ad was in reference to stripping. But when she came to Frederick, she realized there was no strip club here, and that the defendant had something different in mind and that was prostitution,” he says.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 6th, 2019. “You’re talking about trafficking of a 16-year-old is just unacceptable. And we’re looking for a pretty substantial sentence for Mr. Vance come March 6th of next year,” says Smith.
By Kevin McManus