Braintree man charged with sex trafficking at South Bay hotel

Boston Police detectives keeping tabs on prostitution at Mass and Cass by browsing online sex-for-hire ads spotted a woman they knew as "a victim of exploitation and violent assaults" arranged a "date" with her trafficker at the Holiday Inn Express on Boston Street and then arrested him when both people drove up Monday night, police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office report.

Sacharis Gathers, 20, of Braintree was charged with charged with trafficking for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute. At his arraignment in South Boston Municipal Court yesterday, South Boston Margaret Albertson set bail at $50,000, and then ordered Gathers held when he couldn't come up with that amount.

The DA's office provided this account of what led to his arrest in the parking lot of the hotel around 8:15 p.m. on Monday:

Investigators observed an online advertisement on “Skip the Games,” a platform linked to sex trafficking and exploitation, featuring a person known by them to be a victim of exploitation and violent assaults. Investigators made arrangements for a meetup using the phone number listed on the advertisement.

At about 8:18 p.m., detectives observed a car arrive with two occupants. The victim exited the car and entered the meetup location. At this time, detectives placed the driver, later identified as Gathers, into custody. Detectives recovered three plastic bags of crack cocaine from Gathers.

Innocent, etc.