A Trinidad and Tobago native who holds lawful permanent resident status in the United States has entered a guilty plea to sex trafficking charges, and has formally confessed to the kidnapping of six additional women across a 12-month period spanning 2022 and 2023, federal law enforcement officials from the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed this week.
During the official plea hearing held in federal court, 33-year-old Chad Barclay acknowledged that on September 13, 2022, he lured a woman to his personal residence under false pretenses with the goal of forcing her into commercial sex. Once at the property, Barclay robbed the victim and carried out a sexual assault against her, according to his own testimony under the plea agreement.
As a core term of the negotiated plea deal, Barclay has also taken responsibility for the abduction of six other women between 2022 and 2023, expanding the scope of his confirmed criminal activity beyond the initial allegations outlined in earlier indictments.
Barclay first faced official prosecution in August 2023, when a 20-count superseding indictment was filed that named five separate victims. The initial charges covered a range of federal offenses, including interstate prostitution, Hobbs Act robbery, kidnapping, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, witness tampering, and obstruction of an official government proceeding. In May 2024 (corrected from original 2026 typo per procedural context), a second updated superseding indictment was filed that added a sex trafficking charge related to one of the original five victims, alongside new charges of interstate prostitution, Hobbs Act robbery, and kidnapping connected to two additional previously unnamed victims.
“Chad Barclay has now admitted that he kidnapped, violently raped, and robbed multiple female victims,” stated Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This prosecution sends a clear message that we will always pursue justice for survivors of trafficking and abuse, to stop more of these horrific crimes from being committed. This kind of exploitation and brutal violence has no place in our civilized society.”
US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr, serving the Eastern District of New York, echoed that commitment to accountability, noting: “This defendant is a dangerous predator who used force and intimidation to carry out a sexual assault against one victim, and has now admitted to additional criminal conduct including kidnapping six other women. Today’s guilty plea holds him accountable for the devastating, irreversible harm he inflicted on his victims, and sends an unambiguous warning that our office will aggressively prosecute anyone who uses violence, deceptive enticement, and coercion to enable sex trafficking. We remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting victims of this terrible scourge, pursuing justice on their behalf, and making sure that perpetrators like Barclay are held fully responsible for their crimes.”
James Barnacle, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, emphasized the collaborative work that led to the conviction: “Chad Barclay’s brutal and predatory actions inflicted profound, life-altering harm on his victims and demonstrated a complete disregard for their safety and basic humanity. The joint investigation carried out by the FBI and the NYPD uncovered his pattern of abuse and ensured he was brought into the justice system to answer for his crimes. We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to protect vulnerable people and guarantee that offenders are held fully accountable for every harm they cause.”
Barclay now faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years behind bars. A federal district court judge will issue a final sentence after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant statutory factors that shape federal sentencing decisions.
The case against Barclay was developed through a joint investigation by the FBI New York Field Office and the New York Police Department, operating as part of the regional Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Prosecution of the case is being led by Trial Attorney Olimpia E Michel of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, alongside Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andy Palacio and Lorena Michelen for the Eastern District of New York.