Dunkirk man indicted for labor and sex trafficking, kidnapping teen
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Dunkirk man was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on charges that he kidnapped a minor and engaged in labor and sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced.
Augusto Mateo Francisco, 32, was charged with two counts of forced labor, one count of kidnapping a minor, and one count of transportation of a minor for the purpose of illegal sexual activity.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. C. Penrose, Francisco “facilitated the illegal entry of Guatemalan migrants into the United States” and transported the migrants to Dunkirk, where he housed them and put them to work at area farms.
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Francisco charged the migrants for providing housing and transporting them to work, in addition to taking a cut of the wages they earned at the farms, Penrose alleged. Prosecutors say Francisco threatened two individuals, warning that he would harm their families or have them deported by authorities if they stopped working for him “or if they did not pay back the money they purportedly owed to him,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Francisco is additionally accused of repeatedly raping a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who had come to the U.S. with her mother. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Francisco threatened to harm the teenager’s siblings, who were still in Guatemala, if she reported the alleged rapes to anyone.
In May 2020, prosecutors allege Francisco abducted the 16-year-old and held her in a trailer in the town of Ripley before police rescued the girl nearly two weeks later. The girl and her mother subsequently fled to Georgia, where Francisco allegedly kidnapped the minor again and brought her back to New York. Police rescued the girl from Francisco’s detention several days later, the U.S. Attorneys said.
Francisco was arraigned Friday and is being held pending a detention hearing on Dec. 20. His charges carry a minimum penalty of 20 years in prison with a maximum of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
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Justin McMullen is a Western New York native who joined the News 4 team in 2023. You can read more of his work here.
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