Army reservist arrested, charged with sex trafficking, including Charlotte minor

A U.S. Army Reserve soldier was arrested and charged with trafficking young women, including a minor from Charlotte, to other states for prostitution.

An indictment says Xaver Boston, 28, sex trafficked the women from at least 2012 through 2016, and then for several months after he returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2017.

Wearing a Superman T-shirt and shackles, Boston was led out of court Thursday afternoon.

Boston is charged with six counts of sex trafficking, one count of inducing a person to travel in interstate commerce for purposes of prostitution, and two counts of using an interstate facility to promote a prostitution enterprise.

The report said Boston had several ways of maintaining control over the victims.

It said Boston “Obtained and arranged for others to obtain hotel rooms within North Carolina and other states for purposes of prostitution."

The indictment said Boston maintained control of the women by withholding drugs as a form of punishment, and also by using violence against them when he suspected they were withholding money or lying to him.

It also says Boston advertised the women on Backpage.com and collected the prostitution proceeds for his own profit, while providing the women with drugs, including heroin, to maintain control of their actions.

Officials said an indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  Each sex trafficking count carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life, as well as mandatory restitution and a $250,000 fine.

In the neighborhood where Boston’s mother lived, a neighbor who didn’t want to show her face said she saw Boston visiting.

“It’s awful right here in the neighborhood,” she said. “There are little kids around. It’s terrible.”

Mark Blackwell, with Justice Ministries, said that as a major city Charlotte has plenty of human trafficking.

“We've found there is no mold for a trafficker,” Blackwell said. “It can be someone who would really surprise you.”

Blackwell encourages people to look for suspicious behavior, and the people who do human trafficking don’t always look like bad guys.

“It’s not always what we think of,” Blackwell said. “(Boston) appeared upstanding. Maybe that will hit close to home for people.”

Cox Media Group