Man convicted of sex trafficking in Seekonk gets 60 years in prison

FALL RIVER — A 61-year-old man convicted of prostituting two teenage girls at Seekonk hotels if they did not earn their cash quota at a now defunct Providence strip club may be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Troy Footman of Boston was sentenced Friday in Fall River Superior Court to two consecutive sentences totaling between 60 and 80 years in prison for what authorities say was the subjugation of two girls ages 14 and 16 into a life of sex abuse and violence.

“He met these two young girls and taught them the adult sex trade,” Judge Raffi Yessayan said shortly before handing down two consecutive 30 – to 40-year prison terms for Footman.

In his remarks, Yessayan referred to the testimony of one of the victims who was viciously beaten by Footman, a Level 3 sex offender, before raping her at a Seekonk motel.

“He was basically using her as his own sex slave,” Yessayan said.

Footman, who prosecutors say has led a life of crime involving rape and prostitution since his youth, had no visible reaction as he was led out of the courtroom in shackles.

He was convicted in 1986 of raping two girls with another man and leaving the victims on the side of the road before driving off. In 1998, after his release on a host of other crimes, Footman was convicted of prostituting girls and served a 13-year federal prison term.

In July 2015, he was sentenced to 85 years for sex trafficking in minors in Rhode Island. The case that exposed prostitution at the now-closed Cheaters strip club, but his conviction on most of the counts was overturned.

After he completed his Rhode Island sentence, Seekonk police arrested him in December 2018 for sex trafficking the girls at several Seekonk motels and advertising them on the now defunct website

backpage.com, according prosecutors and court records.

Prosecutors said if the girls did not make $1,000 a night at the strip club, where patrons engaged in sex acts in back rooms with young girls as Footman acted as their pimp, he would force them to have sex with men when they returned to Seekonk.

While on federal probation for sex trafficking, Footman met and recruited the victims, one of whom was forced to have sex with Footman daily, Assistant District Attorney Casey Smith said.

“The severity of these abuses will leave lifetime marks on this victim,” Smith said.

Prosecutors said Footman would go to courthouses, bus stations and homeless shelters to recruit girls and women before leading them into a life of prostitution.

“We have evidence from his board of probation record that since his youth Mr. Footman has been involved in a life of crime, making a life from children and vulnerable women,” Smith said.

In an impact statement read to the court by Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman, one of the girls said, “You made me trust you only to become my then biggest fear in life.”

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III praised the victims for their courage to testify against Footman and said he was pleased with the jury’s verdict and the lengthy sentence imposed by the judge.

Prosecutors had recommended 40 to 50 years.

“It is great to know that the chief victim in this case, despite the terrible circumstances of this matter, has turned her life around and has a bright future. Based on his criminal history and the facts of this case, this defendant should never be released from prison,” Quinn said.

Footman’s lawyer, James Caramanica of Attleboro, recommended a 15 – to 20-year sentence followed by two years’ probation.

Footman was convicted on 10 charges, including trafficking persons under the age of 18 for sexual servitude, aggravated rape of a child, rape of a child with force, exhibiting a child in the nude and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

Footman can appeal his conviction and sentence. If he does, Yessayan urged prosecutors to oppose his efforts.