New York Man Who Ran Foot Fetish Website Charged With Sex Trafficking
Via DOJ in New York:
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, announced today the unsealing of a three-count Indictment charging JASON KHAN with sex trafficking offenses. KHAN was arrested this morning in the Northern District of New York and will be presented this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis.
“As alleged, Jason Khan lured his victims in under the lucrative promise of being a foot model, before he repeatedly and violently sexually assaulted and raped them,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “We commend the victims for their courage in coming forward, and we urge anyone else who has been a victim of Khan, or knows anything about his alleged crimes, to do the same. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Jason Khan allegedly operated a website to exploit multiple women’s employment aspirations and lure them to hotel rooms before brutally raping them,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “The FBI-NYPD Human Trafficking Task Force continues to target sexual predators who abuse women.”
“This defendant lured women to hotel rooms under the false pretense of offering employment opportunities, and then raped and sexually assaulted them,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This horrific behavior has no place in our city, and we will not allow predators to prey on vulnerable women. The NYPD will always protect survivors of sexual assault and work to stop the deception, exploitation, and abuse of traffickers. I am thankful to the men and women of the NYPD, our partners at the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their tireless work to bring this perpetrator to justice.”
As alleged in the Indictment and other filings and statements made in public court proceedings:
From at least 2019 to 2021, KHAN, who resides primarily in New York City and Albany, operated the foot fetish website FootPadNYC.com. KHAN used his foot fetish website to lure and recruit victims to hotel rooms under the pretense of providing them with job opportunities as foot models. As depicted in the below image, the “Employment” section for KHAN’s website sought to attract foot models with the promise of “get[ting] paid to have your feet worshipped.”
KHAN and others working with him then scheduled meetings with aspiring “foot models” in Manhattan hotel rooms. When the aspiring models showed up to be interviewed by KHAN, he sexually assaulted or raped them.
On at least three occasions, KHAN deployed this playbook: scheduling interviews with women who were seeking professional opportunities as foot models and using the promise of this additional income to lure them to Manhattan hotel rooms. Once in the hotel room, KHAN raped or sexually assaulted the women—penetrating two of the victims vaginally and, among other things, forcibly putting the third victim’s feet on his penis. Each victim expressed her lack of consent to the sexual activity, but her non-consent was ignored by KHAN. Each of the victims reported her assault to law enforcement and others, and two of the victims performed rape kits in a hospital in the aftermath of their rapes.
KHAN, 47, of Albany and New York, New York, is charged with three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, each of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The statutory maximum and mandatory penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI-NYPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in New York, as well as the assistance of FBI Albany and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Lisa Daniels, and Remy Grosbard are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
