SUSSEX COUNTY, DE– The U.S. Department of Justice announced the conviction of a Lewes man on sex trafficking and related charges Tuesday.
A federal jury found 68-year-old Clifton Gibbs guilty on seven counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, five counts of forced labor and one count of interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution, following a seven-day trial in the District of Delaware.
Prosecutors say between 2014 and 2020, Gibbs exploited women addicted to heroin or cocaine by giving or withholding the drugs to influence withdrawal symptoms. He used this control, as well as physical violence, to force victims into commercial sex acts, forced labor, panhandling and theft – from which he profited, according to court records.
The initial May 2023 indictment acknowlegdes 13 victims, including three allegedly transported across state lines. Co-defendant 46-year-old Brooke Waters plead guilty to one count of each charge. Investigators say Waters' involvement included photographing victims for advertisements on the website Backpage and instructing victims to steal.
The Homeland Security Investigation stemmed from Gibbs' and Waters' 2015 drug possession arrest while traveling with two victims – who alleged coercion by both defendants. Two more victims corroborated those allegations in 2016, according to court documents. In 2018, two victims reportedly involved in a string of thefts told investigators Gibbs coerced them to steal items for him to resell.
One of the victims interviewed in 2016 called the National Human Trafficking Hotline to report Gibbs in 2021, prompting Homeland Security to intensify the investigation.
The Court says difficulty communicating with victims, as well as several victims' deaths, stalled the investigation.
Gibbs will be sentenced at a later date, facing a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison, according to court records.
Anyone with information about human trafficking is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. For more information, visit humantraffickinghotline.org.