Chester County man charged with trafficking two teen girls from Mexico and Guatemala for labor at a mushroom farm.

In a troubling case of alleged human trafficking, a 36-year-old man from Chester County has been charged with exploiting two teenage girls from Mexico and Guatemala. According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, Ramiro Caal Jolomna coerced both individuals into labor at a local mushroom farm, allegedly offering them little to no compensation while threatening them with punishment or deportation for noncompliance.

Jolomna is facing multiple charges, including several counts of trafficking in individuals and involuntary servitude, with bail set at million. Furthermore, court documents indicate that he has been charged with concealing the death of a child in connection with the trafficking case, although specific details regarding this charge have yet to be disclosed. Jolomna’s last known residence was in New Garden Township.

Court records reveal that Jolomna has been incarcerated since September 2024 on separate charges related to child pornography, which are also being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office; his bail in this earlier case was set at 0,000. Efforts to reach a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office for additional information regarding the ongoing cases were unsuccessful, and no attorney has been publicly listed for Jolomna in relation to the trafficking allegations.

The Attorney General’s office reported that the two girls, aged 14 and 17, were induced into an exploitative situation through false debts created by Jolomna for bringing them to the United States. Their circumstances reportedly included long working hours, often reaching up to 16 hours a day, while being denied access to education. The 14-year-old, who entered from Mexico, was compelled to perform domestic tasks within Jolomna’s household alongside her labor duties at the farm. Similarly, the 17-year-old, originally from Guatemala, was also subjected to working conditions where she was deprived of a significant portion of her earnings, which she intended to use to support her ailing father back home.

The Attorney General emphasized the severity of this case, underscoring how it highlights the vulnerability of individuals preyed upon by exploitative practices. Labor trafficking, while less frequently reported in mainstream media, persists as a grave concern, affecting victims’ lives and dignity. This incident raises alarms about the broader issue of human trafficking and the need for vigilance in identifying and combating such criminal exploitation.

This case is part of a larger framework in which authorities are increasingly focusing on human trafficking as a central issue, aiming to protect vulnerable populations and bring perpetrators to justice.