3 men charged in human-trafficking detail in Berks

Mike Urban, Reading Eagle, Pa.
·1 min read

Sep. 16—Three men have been charged with attempting to arrange sexual encounters with juveniles through a human-trafficking detail run by the Berks County district attorney's office said Friday.

Arrested Tuesday were Stephen R. Field, of the 400 block of Springside Drive, Spring Township; David E. Capuzzi, 35 of Chester Springs, Chester County; and Earnest Baer Martin, 79, of Elm, Lancaster County.

They are charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor; criminal use of a communication facility; prostitution; and related offenses.

Investigators gave these details:

Members of the district attorney's Human Trafficking Task Force were conducting an undercover prostitution investigation to combat sex trade.

Undercover detectives placed ads on websites commonly used for sexual advertisements. The defendants responded to the ads and agreed to meet and have sex with individuals they believed to 13- to 15-year-old juveniles at a hotel in Berks for money.

The defendants were arrested when they arrived at the hotel.

Capuzzi and Field were arraigned Tuesday by District Judge Ann L. Young and remained free on $30,000 bail each.

Martin was charged Thursday and will be arraigned later.