FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2026

Rai Thomas, 31, of Mount Vernon, has been sentenced to 160 months in federal prison for sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl—targeting a child who was living in a group home, advertising her online, transporting her to hotels in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and repeatedly selling her for sex for his own financial gain.

According to evidence presented at trial, between January and February 2022, Thomas enticed the teenage victim into commercial sexual exploitation, arranged hotel rooms, coordinated her transportation, facilitated online advertisements, and profited from each sexual encounter he arranged. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

“This case is all too common. Girls in the foster care system targeted by pimps for sexual exploitiation and abus,” said Sonia Ossorio, executive director of Women’s Justice NOW. “Yes, adult men are buying  poor, vulnerable children who are in the care of the state. It is alarming that some elected officials in New York City want to loosen laws so that promoting prostitution and soliticing prostitution are decriminalized that would expand the sex trade here and lead to more immigrants and children being recruited to meet demand.”

Women’s Justice NOW also raised serious concerns about the broader ecosystem that enables child sex trafficking. The exploitation took place in hotels across the Bronx and Brooklyn, yet no hotels have been publicly identified in the sentencing announcement.

“Hotels are not passive backdrops in trafficking cases,” Ossorio said. “When a child is being sold for sex on their premises, repeatedly, there are warning signs. We must examine whether staff were trained to identify trafficking indicators, whether suspicious activity was reported, and whether adequate safeguards were in place. Businesses that turn a blind eye, they are complicit.” 

The organization is calling for stronger trafficking laws, more serious penalties for sex buyers and accoutability for those businesses that facilitate prostitution and trafficking. 

Women’s Justice NOW calls on the New York Legislature to pass A.9214/S.8609 which addresses New York’s antiquated statutes that make patronizing a 15/16/17 year old child merely a misdemeanor. 

“Sex buyers are not bystanders. They are predators,” she said. “A child cannot be ‘prostituted’ without adult men choosing to pay for sex. Those buyers must be identified, investigated, and held criminally liable. Cases must be pursued against them to ensure full accountability and to advance the end goal of reducing demand for the commercial sexual exploitation of children.”

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