Want To Catch Serial Killers Faster? Listen to Sex Workers.

The cases of Joey the Player and the Long Island Serial Killer show how systemic neglect and the failure to pass an immunity bill have left violent criminals on the loose for far too long.

When I got back into sex work in New York City in 2015, I was told, "Never go to New Jersey, no matter how much money he offers you." Jose Torres, a 46-year-old known today as Joey the Player, had been luring young women with promises of a lot of money that he never paid. He would become aggressive, "often assaulting and raping" his victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. He was convicted in October 2023, and just last month, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

It's good news that Torres has finally been stopped—but law enforcement sure took their time.

To catch current and future serial predators targeting sex workers in New York, lawmakers should have taken up and passed an immunity bill introduced by state Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda (D–Bronx) in 2023. The bill would have empowered victims of human trafficking and sex workers who experience or witness crimes to make a report and seek help without fear of being prosecuted for prostitution. The bill passed the Senate and Assembly Codes Committee but was never brought to the floor, even with strong bipartisan support including 48 co-sponsors in the state Assembly and 16 in the state Senate, as well as the support of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. It is expected that the bill will be reintroduced next session.

Sadly, it's not the first time the likes of Joey the Player have been allowed to terrorize victims. Similar stories were told as bodies started appearing in Long Island in 2011. Rex Heuermann, now known as the Long Island Serial Killer, was targeting sex workers, though for years no one seemed to be taking the case seriously. Police finally arrested and charged him with the murder of at least three women last year—13 years after Heuermann's first victim was discovered. Since then, he has been charged with two additional murders, and investigations are ongoing.

Why does it take so long for police to act on crimes committed against sex workers? For one thing, as members of a criminalized class, sex workers are terrified of being arrested even when we try to report crimes committed against us. But for those who have tried, too often law enforcement brushes them off, treating violence, sexual assault, and even murder, as an occupational hazard of sex work.

Across the country when sex workers go missing, or their bodies are found, police processing the crime scene will mark the incident as "NHI" or "No Humans Involved," deprioritizing these cases and allowing predators like Torres and Heuermann to hunt with impunity.

Instead of taking their reports to the police, where their pleas for help can fall on deaf ears, victims will often call the Sex Worker National Hotline to report a crime. The hotline played an important role in Torres' capture and conviction, connecting law enforcement to reluctant victims and providing important background and context about the attacks.

Torres' victims had tried to report his violent behavior to multiple local law enforcement offices over the years to no effect. Sex worker advocates began working with local law enforcement to investigate Torres in 2018. The same year, the Sex Worker National Hotline received a call from FBI investigator Michael Scimeca, who said he wanted to help. Initially skeptical, the organization took great pains to make sure that victims would be protected, finding an attorney to facilitate the investigation.

It took a coordinated effort of sex worker–led organizations, an attorney who understood what was at stake, over 30 exceptionally brave victims, and an unusually empathetic and driven investigator to finally arrest a flagrant and unrepentant criminal. Torres was arrested on February 14, 2020. 

"[Torres] was brought to justice by sex workers who came forward and reported his violence to the FBI with the assistance of an attorney," the hotline posted on its blog after his sentencing last month.

Throughout his case, the court never once referred to the survivors as anything but sex workers, and victims were treated with dignity and respect. The court acknowledged sex work as a transaction between two consenting adults, emphasizing that consent given to exchange money for erotic services does not extend to assault and rape.

Listening to sex workers made this arrest, conviction, and sentencing possible. When sex workers are free to report crimes, it can create safer communities and bring predators like Joey the Player and the Long Island Serial Killer to justice. It is widely believed that had law enforcement taken the disappearance and deaths of sex workers in Long Island more seriously Heuermann would not have been able to kill so many young women. 

By making it easier for sex workers to report crimes, laws like the immunity bill in New York will allow for criminals like Torres and Heuermann to be held accountable before they commit more attacks, creating safer communities. Lawmakers should push for the bill's approval in the next legislative session.