A former Pennsylvania child services worker faces human trafficking charges for allegedly pressuring a mother whose children were in foster care into prostitution, authorities said.
Candace Talley, 27, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, who was arrested Thursday, is also accused of recruiting other women to participate in an extensive prostitution ring, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement.
Talley was working in 2017 for the Division of Children and Youth Services in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, when she coerced a woman whose children were in foster care and whose case she was managing into prostitution in exchange for a favorable custody recommendation, Stollsteimer said.
“It is truly horrible, and beyond imagination, that someone who is responsible for ensuring the welfare of children would pressure their mother into acts of prostitution for her own personal enrichment, and with the promise of a favorable custody recommendation, as this defendant is charged with doing,” he said.
She also promised the mother that she would falsify the results of her drug tests to ensure a favorable recommendation regarding the placement of her children, according to authorities.
Talley would also allegedly drive other women to and from prostitution jobs and take more than 25 percent of the money they made.
She is charged with corrupt organizations, trafficking individuals and promoting prostitution and related offenses.
Talley has not been employed by the Division of Children and Youth Services in Delaware County since 2017, Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Diane Edbril said Friday.
Talley was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond and is under home monitoring, Edbril said.
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