Man sentenced in Fall River court for trafficking children, DHS, Seekonk, Boston, State, and Providence Police investigated

A 61-year-old Dorchester man convicted at trial of tracking two underage girls and raping one of them was sentenced last Friday to serve 60 to 80 years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

The jury took less than an hour–after a two-week long trial in Fall River Superior Court—to convict Troy Footman of indictments charging him with two counts of Human Trafficking of a Child, one count of Rape of a Child-Subsequent Offense, two counts of Rape of a Child-Aggravated by Age Difference, one count of Rape of a Child by Use of Force, one count of Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, one count of Assault and Battery, one count of Threats to Harm and one count of Posing a Child in the State of Nudity.

Footman trafficked the two girls and raped one of them in Seekonk motels in 2013 and 2014.  He also violently assaulted the girl he raped on at least one occasion.  His modus operandi was to have the girls work long shifts at a now defunct club in Providence, RI called “Cheaters.”  The girls would dance and engage in sex in back rooms of the club for money.  He was able to get them jobs at the club in Providence by falsifying identification documents.

Footman would routinely transport the girls from Seekonk to Providence and then pick them up at the end of their shifts.  When he picked the girls up, he would take all their money.  If the girls did not make at least $1,000 per day, he would then prostitute them out of the Seekonk motels.  Footman would advertise the underage girls on the now-closed website, backpage.com.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Silvia Rudman and Casey Smith, and the lengthy state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Raffi Yessayan.

The multi-jurisdiction investigation was conducted by Seekonk Police, Boston Police, the Department of Homeland Security, Massachusetts State Police and Providence Police.

“I am very pleased with the jury verdict and the lengthy sentence imposed by the court, which was well deserved. This defendant has a lengthy history of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and young women.  I commend the victim for her perseverance and resiliency during the past decade,” District Attorney Quinn said.  “It is great to know that the main victim, despite the terrible circumstances of this case, has turned her life around and has a bright future. Based on his criminal history and the facts of this case, this defendant should never be released from prison. I want to commend Silvia Rudman and Casey Smith for their efforts in this case, which led to the defendant’s conviction.”