A Lynn woman has been charged in connection with trafficking a minor from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) financed group home in Saugus that employed her.
After a five-month investigation, Ashley Goodrich was indicted on Thursday by a Statewide Grand Jury, according to a press release from Attorney General Maura Healey’s office. The 27-year-old faces four counts of trafficking a minor for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution of a minor, and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The Attorney General’s office began the investigation after the matter was referred by the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, according to the press release. Goodrich allegedly targeted and recruited the minor out of Eliot Community Human Services (Eliot) where the minor was living at the time.
The Lynn resident allegedly posted ads online offering sexual services in exchange for money and drove the minor to sexual encounters in Boston and Worcester. Goodrich reportedly coordinated the sexual encounters during times when the minor had run away from home.
Eliot, a home for minors referred from DCF that provided communal care for adolescents,
terminated Goodrich and has since been closed, according to the press release. DCF participated with law enforcement in the investigation and collaborated with them in ensuring the safety and well-being of the group home’s residents by moving them elsewhere.
Goodrich will be arraigned at a later date in Suffolk and Worcester Counties. The case is being handled by the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Division.
Bella diGrazia can be reached at [email protected].
