By Robert Salonga | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 4:49 pm | UPDATED: November 9, 2018 at 5:10 pm SAN JOSE — A Stockton man has been charged with sex trafficking after forcing a San Jose woman he met on Instagram into a life of prostitution all over the western United States, authorities say. He was eventually caught after the woman he was exploiting contacted the county’s Law Enforcement to Investigate Human Trafficking Task Force, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Anthony Wright Thomas Jr., 33 was taken into custody after bringing the victim with him back to her hometown of San Jose, so that he could watch the San Francisco 49ers play the Oakland Raiders in nearby Santa Clara, while she stayed in a motel. He is being held without bail in the Elmwood men’s jail in Milpitas on three felony counts of sex trafficking and assorted pimping and pandering counts. “Human traffickers will have no haven in Santa Clara County. At the heart of this case is a terrified young woman, who was threatened, beaten and exploited for cash,” Deputy District Attorney Patrick Vanier said in a statement. “Protecting her safety and her rights are why we on this task force do what we do.” According to investigators, Wright met the victim on Instagram and later bought her a train ticket to see him in Stockton. From there, authorities say, he forced her in prostitution in places spanning Las Vegas,… [Read full story]
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