Man believed he was transporting teenager to WA for sex work: Feds
A 23-year-old man was arrested Feb. 2, 2022, at SeaTac Airport on human trafficking charges after he attempted to recruit what he believed to be a 17-year-old girl, federal officials said. The girl was actually a special agent.
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A 23-year-old man thought he was recruiting a 17-year-old girl into sex work when he bought her a plane ticket to Washington, federal officials said.
But the girl was actually an undercover agent in Denver, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said in a news release.
Isaac Shorack, 23, was arrested at SeaTac Airport on February 2 for attempting to induce a minor and attempting to transport a minor to engage in prostitution, according to a criminal complaint.
A lawyer for Shorack did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Federal authorities began investigating Shorack after receiving a tip in November from the National Human Trafficking Hotline that a minor had been coerced into prostitution for three weeks in exchange for housing and drugs, the complaint says.
Investigators found group text messages on the minor’s phone, including from Shorack and other girls discussing sex work, according to court documents.
Then an undercover agent in Denver set up an Instagram account and posed as a 17-year-old girl to message Shorack on Jan. 28, documents show.
In Instagram posts, texts and phone calls, Shorack told the agent — who he thought was a teenager — the kind of job she’d be doing in Seattle and the money she’d be making. could win, officials said.
The man also asked some of his employees to message the officer to talk about the job, according to the criminal complaint.
“It seemed scary at first, but it’s a fun, crazy lifestyle. Travel, drive nice cars, have everything I want,” a worker told the undercover officer.
Shorack told the agent he had seven daughters who worked for him, authorities said in the documents.
Shorack bought the agent a plane ticket from Denver to Seattle so they could discuss the alleged 17-year-old becoming a sex worker for him, prosecutors said. But when he picked her up outside the baggage claim area, he was stopped by airport police, the press release said.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
“This case started with a tip from a concerned citizen. Then law enforcement found out how Mr Shorack was using money and promising to lure young women into prostitution so he could line his pockets,” US attorney Nick Brown said in the press release.