Sex-trafficking suspect in court

AUBURN — A Pennsylvania man charged with sex trafficking Wednesday had posted more than 1,000 ads over the past year promoting the sexual services of his girlfriend.

According to a police affidavit, Dean Pascal, 65, had posted 1,210 ads across five states promoting SexySeaBeauty on Backpage.com since the spring of 2016.

The 47-year-old woman featured in the ad told police that she owed Pascal about $100,000, which she felt obligated to pay him back by working as a prostitute.

On Wednesday, Auburn police Detective Eric J. Bell went undercover to the Marriott hotel on Turner Street after texting a phone number associated with the ad and being told the services of SexySeaBeauty could be had for $260.

When Bell and two other detectives went to the specified room, they found the 47-year-old woman, who confessed that she had been providing sex acts for money, according to a police affidavit.

Investigators said Pascal had been in the Twin Cities on business with a Lewiston hospital when he placed the ad. Police found him at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and arrested him on a charge of aggravated sex trafficking.

The aggravated element of the charge implies that Pascal used some form of compulsion to force his girlfriend into prostitution, prosecutors said.

In court Friday, Pascal’s bail was lowered to $5,000 cash. He was ordered to have no contact with the 47-year-old woman and to refrain from staying in hotels or motels.

Although the woman and Pascal were described as in a relationship, the woman told police it was far from a traditional romance.

She told police that “Dean had paid her $15,000 to be his girlfriend and has told her that over the last year, he has given her $100,000 which she feels obligated to pay back.”

The woman told police that she and Pascal had come to an arrangement: Pascal would take the money from one out of every three sex-for-cash transactions the woman completed.

She told police that she had “probably paid back a couple thousand” but that she had lost track of the amount.

On his LinkedIn page, Pascal lists himself as a diagnostic technician at hospitals in both West Virginia and Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

According to Bell’s affidavit, the SexySeaBeauty ad had been placed since April 2016 in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maine.

Pascal was expected to be released on bail Friday night. He is scheduled to appear in court in September.