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Victims Seek To Freeze Assets Of Two Men Charged In Sex Trafficking Ring

Two men who say they were victimized by a sex-trafficking ring that preyed on mentally ill and drug-addicted individuals are seeking to freeze the assets of two of the suspects.

The filing in Superior Court in Bridgeport Wednesday by attorney Joel T. Faxon is the first step in a personal injury lawsuit Faxon said he plans to bring on behalf of several alleged victims of the ring. The motion seeks to freeze up to $10 million in assets of Bruce J. Bemer, a businessman from Glastonbury, and William Trefzger, a convicted sex offender from Westport.

Bemer has a variety of assets, including Bemer Petroleum Corp., a fuel company in Glastonbury, and the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.

Faxon's filing is on behalf of two men, one of whom is an alleged victim in the criminal case pending against Bemer, Trefzger and a third man, Robert King of Danbury. King is accused of procuring the alleged victims for Bemer and Trefzger.

Police have not yet brought charges in the case of the second alleged victim represented by Faxon. That man is alluded to in court records as one of as many as 15 victims.

"Plaintiffs were repeatedly victims of the human trafficking conspiracy of the defendants and forced into drug addition, drug use and prostitution by the defendants who exploited their mental and emotional disabilities for the defendants' own sexual gratification, in various locations throughout Connecticut," the court filing reads. Faxon also seeks to have Bemer and Trefzger reveal all of their assets.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Danbury attorney Edward Barron, who is the conservator for one of the alleged victims, and one of the alleged victims. The Courant does not identify victims of sexual assault.

"The plaintiffs' injuries and damages include bodily invasion, drug consumption and addiction and the humiliation of multiple sexual encounters with the defendants," the filing says. "... that were precipitated and occasioned by the defendants' involvement in a human sexual trafficking racketeering operation where they targeted young men or "boys" – as defendants described them - who were susceptible to coercion."

Faxon said the men he represents "were preyed upon by these sick criminals because they were known to be mentally ill and emotionally distressed. They were not only threatened with violence, exploited, and sexually abused; the defendants and their co-conspirators profited from the sick scheme of sexual racketeering."

Danbury police and the FBI have been investigating the sex trafficking ring and disclosed in court filing that they have identified 15 victims. The criminal charges pending against Bemer, Trefzger and King concern only two. Faxon said he suspects there are many more victims.

"These young men deserve a better life and sexual predators like Bemer and Trefzger will be held accountable for the irreversible damage they have caused," Faxon said. "Criminals like this have to know that if they engage in such despicable abuse there will be a heavy financial cost exacted. We will extract every last dollar from these sadistic sociopaths and put them out of business permanently."