State/County - Bensalem Township
Philadelphia Man Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Multiple Victims, Including Bensalem Minor
United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Kevin L. Smith, 29, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Karen Spencer Marston to 23 years’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release for sex trafficking multiple victims, one of them a minor late last month.
On December 2, 2023, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor, and three counts of sex trafficking by force, threats of force, coercion and attempt.
The charges stemmed from Smith’s operation of a sex trafficking ring in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, including Bucks and Delaware counties. In September 2019, Smith knowingly harbored, maintained, and advertised a minor, knowing the minor would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act. The defendant also operated a sex trafficking enterprise at various times over a period of two years from July 2015 to July 2017, during which he used physical threats to force two young women to have sex for money.
“Smith’s sexual exploitation of his victims was horrific,” said U.S Attorney Romero. “May those victims take some comfort, and find some measure of justice, in the lengthy prison sentence he’ll now be serving. Our office, alongside the FBI and our other partners, is working every day to put away these predatory sex traffickers who for some reason feel entitled to treat vulnerable young people as their personal property.”
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“Sex trafficking, especially when it involves a minor, is one of the most heinous crimes we investigate,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The sentencing of Kevin Smith is not just a testament to the diligent investigative work conducted by the FBI and our law enforcement partners, but reaffirms our mission of protecting innocent victims from exploitation.”
This case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the Bensalem Police Department, the Media Borough Police Department, the Tinicum Township Police Department, and the Philadelphia Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Jones and Assistant United States Attorney Priya T. DeSouza.
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In only its second year, Bucks County Community College (BCCC) picked up another medal at the prestigious horticultural expo for its ‘Rooted in Art’ tribute to Stella Elkins Tyler.
BCCC’s floral design program has once again taken home a prize in only its second year participating in the Philadelphia Flower Show. Students, alumni, and instructors earned a bronze medal for “Rooted in Art,” reflecting the College’s origins of being founded on the Newtown estate of artist and educational philanthropist Stella Elkins Tyler. The exhibit features Tyler’s sculpture “Joan of Arc at Orleans,” donated to the College by Carol Tyler, who visited the show with College President & CEO Dr. Patrick M. Jones (Feature Pic). The College was founded on the Tyler estate in Newtown more than 60 years ago. The exhibit features seven original floral designs, each interpreting the connection between nature, art, and education, alongside six selected student works from the College’s School of Arts and Communication.
Credit: BCCC
A team of 20 students, alumni, and instructors from BCCC’s floral design program helped install “Rooted in Art” at the Philadelphia Flower Show, which reflects the College’s origins of being founded on the Newtown estate of artist and educational philanthropist Stella Elkins Tyler. The exhibit features one of Tyler’s original bronze sculptures, “Joan of Arc at Orleans,” pictured in the background.
Credit: BCCC
Melanie Poff (left) and her mother Els Poff, both Certified Floral Designers from Doylestown and students in BCCC’s floral design program, helped surround “Joan of Arc at Orleans” by Stella Elkins Tyler with botanical beauty at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The sculpture is part of the “Rooted in Art” exhibit, reflecting the deep connection between art, education, and nature that Stella Elkins Tyler championed throughout her life.
Credit: BCCC
Amparito Arriaga, a Certified Floral Designer from Exton and a student in BCCC’s floral design program, installs part of the “Rooted in Art” exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The exhibit features seven original floral designs, each interpreting the connection between nature, art, and education, alongside six selected student works from the College’s School of Arts and Communication.
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