Congressman Smith’s Anti-Trafficking Law Used In Two Recent High-Profile Prosecutions

Congressman Chris Smith

Allison Mack of the TV series “Smallville,” and former Middletown Police Officer  James Keenan  are facing justice for their alleged human trafficking crimes thanks to a law conceived, championed and passed into law through the leadership and tenacity of Congressman Chris Smith.

Smith’s landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (PL 106-386) is the law being enforced in the recent high-profile indictment of a trafficking ring in New York that involved Mack and the indictment of Keenan on child sex trafficking charges.

“This law, the TVPA, sends a message to traffickers of the gravity of their offense,” Rep. Smith, co-chair of the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus, stated.

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Accused Child Sex Trafficker, An Ex Middletown Cop, Released To His Mother’s Custody

James Keenan and his mother, Katherine Fowlie, December 2015. social media photo

James J. Keenan, 47, the retired Middletown Police Officer arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges last week, was released to the custody of his mother, Katherine Fowlie, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovani on Monday afternoon during a bond hearing in Trenton Federal Court.

Fowlie is the widow of former Middletown Police Chief William Fowlie, Keenan’s step-father.

Keenan and Fowlie co-signed a $50,000 unsecured bond as a condition of the release.  Additionally, Keenan is subject to 24 hour per day home confinement with electronic monitoring, is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minor children, must refrain from using alcohol or drugs, be tested for substance abuse, and must restrict his travel–as approved by pre-trail services– to the State of New Jersey and the District of Oregon for Court Purposes. His computer usage is restricted and he surrendered his passport. Read the rest of this entry »

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Retired Middletown Cop Fled After Being Questioned About Child Sex Trafficking Activity

James Keenan

James Keenan, 47, the retired Middletown Police Officer arrested on a Child Sex Trafficking indictment last week,fled his Vancouver, WA home and returned to the New York area after authorities interviewed him regarding his relationship with a 17 year old Beaverton, Oregon girl.

In a motion to unseal Keenan’s indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott M. Kerin told the Court that the defendant was interviewed about the allegations against him approximately two weeks prior to his April 5, 2018 indictment. When attempting to serve an arrest warrant, the case agent found that Keenan showed up at his place of employment on March 30 and announced, without notice, that he was leaving and returning to New York.  Keenan’s Vancouver home was found vacant and his car could not be located. Read the rest of this entry »

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Former Middletown Cop Arrested For Child Sex Trafficking

James J. Keenan

A retired Middletown Police Officer was arrested in Hazlet on Wednesday, April 11, following an April 5 federal indictment for Sex Trafficking of a Child, Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child and Attempted Enticement.

James J. Keenan, 47, formerly of Hazlet and currently a resident of Vancouver, WA, was indicted by a Portland, Oregon federal grand jury following a month long investigation by detectives of Beaverton, Oregon Police Department and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.

His alleged victim is a Beaverton female child, according to Officer Jeremy Shaw, spokesman for the Beaverton PD.  Officer Shaw confirmed that Keenan is a former Middletown Police Officer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Feds take down Backpage.com, an online haven for sex ads

WASHINGTON — After a fight that pitted foes of sex trafficking against advocates of free internet speech, the Justice Department Friday seized the Backpage.com website and raided the home of its co-founder. The site, long a haven for sex ads, began shutting down Friday morning, as FBI agents began taking down a network of web pages… Read the rest of this entry »

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President Trump declares January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

In case you missed it from mainstream media sources, President Donald J. Trump called on the country to combat slavery and human trafficking last week with his declaration that January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

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House of Representatives Passes International Megan’s Law, Bill Awaits Obama’s Signature

By Congressman Chris Smith

Eight years after I first introduced a bill to protect children in the U.S. and around the world from convicted pedophiles who travel in secret to or from the United States—currently below the radar of law enforcement officials—it is now on the verge of becoming law.

The House today passed, and sent to the President, my International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (HR 515)—named for Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from Hamilton, N.J. in our congressional district who was sexually assaulted and killed in 1994. Megan’s assailant was a convicted, repeat sex offender living across the street, unbeknownst to residents in the neighborhood. Due to public outcry in response to the tragedy and to hard work by Megan’s loving parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, the New Jersey State Legislature passed the original Megan’s Law (NJSA 2C: 7-1 through 7-II) in 1994 to require public notification of convicted sex offenders living in the community.

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