Two Arrested for Prostituting Teenagers in Fort Lee Motel Plead Guilty
By Mary K. Miraglia
HACKENSACK, N.J. (April 10, 2017) — Two of three men who were arrested when police found one of them outside a local motel acting as a “watcher” with a batch of condoms and a woman’s purse on the seat of his car pleaded guilty Monday, April 10 to human trafficking charges.
In addition to prison time, both men will be fined $15,000 under a new and stricter state statute intended to discourage sex trafficking.
John Gaudin, 34, or Parlin, N.J. and Yadir Araujo of Elizabeth, also 34, entered the pleas before Judge James J. Guida in Superior Court. Gaudin pleaded guilty to two second degree counts of facilitating human trafficking in return for a sentencing recommendation of five years in state prison on each count, with no parole for at least three years.
Gaudin admitted prostituting two teenagers younger than 18 on dates between March 1 and April 12, 2015 in both Fort Lee and Sayreville. He told the judge he knew they were performing sex acts and being paid for them, and that he was taking a share of the money.
Araujo pleaded guilty to an additional charge of possession of a weapon. His sentencing recommendation is six years maximum with no parole for three years on each of the two charges of human trafficking as an accomplice, and four years flat for possession of a spring-loaded weapon or air gun, a weapon not covered under the state Graves act because technically it is not a firearm.
Guida said he was assessing one $15,000 fine to each man, but said that amount could be doubled by the state since each had pleaded guilty to two separate offenses. “That will not be a reason to come back and say your agreement is invalid,” the judge said.
Araujo was on the scene where one of two 17-year old girls the men were prostituting was in a room providing sex services to a graphic designer from Englewood. A Fort Lee police officer noticed him ducking down below the windshield and investigated. Approaching the vehicle, he noticed the condoms and purse and questioned Araujo, who took him to the motel room. Gayan DeSilva, 35, was in the room with the girl. Both men were arrested, and the subsequent investigation turned up Gaudin and the other teenager. DeSilva was charged separately with prostitution of a child.
The two were running a prostitution ring between Fort Lee and Sayreville that set up online appointments that they would drive the women to.
Gaudin was represented by defense attorney Clarissa Lowe of the Bergen County Public Defender’s Office. Araujo’s lawyer is defense attorney Adam Lustberg of Hackensack. David Calviello of the Special Investigations Unit prosecuted the case.
