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SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of trafficking at least two women now faces serious charges.
On Thursday, 51-year-old Jeffrey Fitzgerald Porter was charged by the Utah Attorney General’s Office in 3rd District Court with aggravated human trafficking for forced sexual exploitation, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies; human trafficking for forced sexual exploitation, a second-degree felony; and two counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
The investigation began July 9 when a victim advocate from the Utah Attorney General’s office responded to a report of two women who had been “trafficked for sexual exploitation and beaten with a metal bar,” according to charging documents.
One woman reported that she met Porter a few years ago and bought drugs from him. But on multiple occasions, “Porter would become paranoid, prevent anyone from leaving the room, and make everyone strip, believing that someone had stolen money or drugs,” the charges state.
The woman said Porter would also “arrange dates” for her, to which “she agreed to the dates to feed her drug addiction and out of fear of violence from Porter,” according to charging documents.
The woman said she would end up having to give her money to Porter, the charges state.
A second woman said she met Porter six months ago when she went to him to buy cocaine, according to the charges. One day, “when she did not have any money, food, or a place to go,” she went to Porter for more cocaine and then engaged in intercourse, the charges state.
“(The woman) reported that she felt she had no choice and did not decline the sex,” according to court documents.
The woman said she became known as Porter’s girlfriend and their relationship was good at first. But soon, Porter told her she could not go to work even though she had a job, according to charging documents.
“Instead he would instruct (her) to ‘hit the block’ and engage in commercial sex for money because it was faster,” the charges state. “There would be times when Porter did not have drugs and would direct (her) to go make at least $70 — engaging in commercial sex — so that they would have enough money to ‘get started,’ buying a small amount of drugs to sell and slowly increasing their quantity.”
The woman reported that “commercial sex became a daily requirement for her and that she was expected to give all of the proceeds of commercial sex to Porter, including money, drugs, cigarettes, etc. Porter would regularly force T.J. to strip and be searched to make sure that she was not holding anything back,” according to charging documents.
Porter began getting more controlling and violent with the woman, the charges state, to the point that he started “choking her out,” many nights holding her in a chokehold while lying in bed.
“(She) recalled that on various occasions Porter would say, ‘It’s time,’ which she understood to mean Porter was about to kill her. (She) reported that she would cry and plead to see her kids, however, Porter would say that it was too late. (She) explained that she was able to escape each time, but Porter would eventually find her, she would return to him, and the situation would get worse,” the charges state.
On July 5, Porter accused both women of stealing drugs from him and changing the password on his cell phone, and made them strip before hitting them with a metal bar, according to charging documents.
On Sept. 30, Porter was charged with drug possession, a third-degree felony, after authorities found cocaine in his motel room, according to court records.
Porter’s extensive criminal history includes numerous arrests, charges and convictions for drug possession, drug distribution, robbery and assault since 1989, according to court records.
