Does answering a prostitution ad make a man a sex trafficker? The highest court in Massachusetts says no, in a ruling that represents a win for both common sense and civil liberties.
The case—Commonwealth v. Garafalo—involved a prostitution sting conducted by state police in 2021. Officers posted web ads pretending to be adult female sex workers and arrested men who met up with these "women" to pay for sex. Rather than simply charge their marks with the crime of soliciting a sex worker or engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, authorities charged them with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude.
