Aaron T. Simmons, 26, was sentenced to 365 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for sex trafficking offenses involving coercion and exploitation, including of a minor.

Simmons used physical violence, threats, intimidation, control, and manipulation to coerce three adult victims into commercial sex acts and provided a 17-year-old minor victim to them to engage in the conduct for the same in the Greenville, South Carolina area. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-carolina-man-sentenced-over-30-years-sex-trafficking

Commentary

In the above matter, the DOJ stated that psychological manipulation was used by Simmons. Psychological manipulation can take various forms and can be employed to control or influence others in harmful ways.

While some of the methods listed above may seem obvious to an adult, to a minor, this type of manipulation can be effective, especially in maintaining the victim's silence. That is why it is important for safe adults to report any reasonable suspicion of human trafficking, including sexual trafficking of a minor.

Information on reporting human trafficking is available through the National Human Trafficking Hotline and relevant websites like www.humantraffickinghotline.org and www.justice.gov/humantrafficking

Here are some common examples of psychological manipulation:

1. Gaslighting: Gaslighting involves distorting the truth, denying facts, or altering reality to make the victim doubt their own perceptions, memories, and sanity.
2. Guilt-tripping: Manipulators often use guilt as a tool by making the victim feel responsible for their actions or emotions, even when they are not at fault.
3. Isolation: Isolating the victim from their support system, such as friends and family, can make them more dependent on the manipulator and easier to control.
4. Love-bombing: Love-bombing is an intense display of affection, praise, or attention used to quickly establish a deep emotional connection with the victim.
5. Playing the victim: Manipulators may portray themselves as victims to gain sympathy, deflect blame, or manipulate others into feeling sorry for them.
6. Silent treatment: Ignoring or refusing to communicate with the victim is a form of emotional manipulation that can create anxiety and make the victim seek approval or attention.
7. Manipulative questioning: Manipulators may use leading or suggestive questions to influence the victim's thoughts, decisions, or perceptions.
8. Shaming: Shaming tactics involve making the victim feel inadequate, embarrassed, or guilty about their actions or beliefs to control their behavior.

Jack McCalmon, Leslie Zieren, and Emily Brodzinski are attorneys with more than 50 years combined experience assisting employers in lowering their risk, including answering questions, like the one above, through the McCalmon Group's Best Practices Help Line. The Best Practice Help Line is a service of The McCalmon Group, Inc. Your organization may have access to The Best Practice Help Line or a similar service from another provider at no cost to you or at a discount. For questions about The Best Practice Help Line or what similar services are available to you via this Platform, call 888.712.7667.

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