Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams says aggressive work by law enforcement is the reason the county had the second highest percentage in the state for human-trafficking charges filed from 2020 to 2024.
Berks had about 12% of the total human-trafficking charges filed during that period, according to data released by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
During the five-year period, Berks had 167 human-trafficking charges, or 11.66% of the 1,432 offenses filed in 431 cases statewide, according to the data.
Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
“Our numbers are higher because we’re really concentrating our investigative and prosecutorial efforts on this problem,” Adams said. “It’s all because we have a very robust human trafficking task force.”
The task force, under the direction of the DA’s office, is made up of 15 to 20 detectives, including investigators from municipal police departments.
“We’ve been able to get the message out about the problems of human trafficking,” Adams said. My detectives and municipal partners have set up a number of details every year to identify, arrest and prosecute individuals who are involved in sex trade and sex trafficking, which is now defined as human trafficking.”
Adams singled out police in Amity and Spring townships and Wyomissing for their focus on these cases.
“We are blessed that we have not only the resources here in our county but we have some municipal police departments who have really taken this problem very seriously,” he said. “It’s clear many of these municipal police departments are very aware that human trafficking is in their neighborhoods.”
When human trafficking is suspected, he said, the task force will set up details — commonly referred to as stings — as part of the investigation.
Those involved in human trafficking often make use of hotels in the area.
“We’ve identified the hotels,” Adams said. “They have been pretty cooperative with us. If they’re not, we put the pressure on them because it’s a serious problem.”
Adams said task force members have taken advantage of training opportunities.
“This is a crime that is disguised,” he said. “The individuals who are members of our task force have been well trained in identifying individuals who they believe may be involved in trafficking.”
Adams credited Zoe International, a group dedicated to fighting human trafficking, for its role as an important community partner.
“They have been a great partner in the educational part and a great teammate in identifying this problem and educating all the detectives who are members of the human trafficking task force,” he said.
Adams said the circumstances in some cases are mind-boggling.
“I think the general public needs to realize that this type of nefarious behavior is not good for our local economy,” he said. The fact that our police departments and this office are taking this seriously is good for our community.”
In the region
Berks was one of three counties in southeastern Pennsylvania to be among the top five highest percentages in the state.
Over the past five years, 1,432 human-trafficking offenses were filed on 431 cases in Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts)
Delaware County had about 10% of the state total during that time, and Chester County had about 7%, placing those counties fourth and fifth, respectively, in the state.
Court officials said 1,432 human-trafficking offenses were filed in 431 cases statewide.
Human trafficking is a type of human rights abuse in which people profit from the exploitation of others — mainly using force, fraud or coercion to manipulate victims into engaging in sex acts or labor/services in exchange for something of value, officials said.
The top counties in the state:
• Franklin: 208 charges; 14.53% of state total
• Berks: 167; 11.66%
• Dauphin: 151; 10.54%
• Delaware: 148; 10.34%
• Chester: 103; 7.19%
• Blair: 75; 5.24%
• Lycoming: 69; 4.82%
• Lancaster: 58; 4.05%
• York: 45; 3.14%
• Cumberland: 31; 2.16%
The following counties had one charge each, representing 0.07% of the state total: Clarion, Crawford, Fulton, Jefferson, Potter and Union.
A breakdown for counties in the region by year:
• Berks: 6 in 2020; 92 in 2021; 2 in 2022; 12 in 2023; 55 in 2024; 167 total offenses, 11.66%
• Chester: 72 in 2020; 0 in 2021; 0 in 2022; 5 in 2023; 26 in 2024; 103 total, 7.19%
• Delaware: 10 in 2020; 26 in 2021; 15 in 2022; 22 in 2023; 75 in 2024; 148 total, 10.34%
• Montgomery: 0 in 2020; 6 in 2021; 3 in 2022; 1 in 2023; 16 in 2024; 26 total, 1.82%
Court officials noted that 86% of defendants convicted are male, and the largest percentage of defendants — 37% — are in the 30- to 39-year-old range.
Help available
If you or someone you know needs help, support is available.
The DA’s office encourages anyone with information regarding human trafficking to contact the office at 610-478-7171. Any information provided is kept anonymous.
Contact Safe Berks at 844-789-SAFE or Text SAFE BERKS to 20121, or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, text “HELP” or “INFO” to 233733, or use their online tip form.