The convictions of three Long Island sex traffickers were affirmed Tuesday by a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which disagreed over whether some of the victims’ history as prostitutes before becoming involved with the traffickers should have been admitted at trial.
Judge Richard Wesley, writing for the court in United States v. Rivera, 13-2722, said the victims’ “prior sexual conduct for money or pleasure was irrelevant to whether the victims’ sexual activities … were the result of coercion.” He was joined by Judge Guido Calabresi.
