By: Richard L. Smith
Mercer County officials reported that a Trenton man was sentenced to 22 years in state prison for his role in an operation that sold underage girls for explicit contact on an online classified advertising website.
Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey said on. May 12, 2026, Al-Tariq Mitchell, 28, of Trenton, was sentenced by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Adam J. Hughes to an aggregate term of 22 years in state prison.
He must serve a minimum of 15 years of that sentence before he is parole eligible.
According to Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey he was also ordered to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and is subject to parole supervision for life.
In June 2024, shortly after his jury trial began, Mitchell entered guilty pleas to one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor one count of first-degree advertising commercial sex abuse of a minor and one count of second-degree witness tampering.
Prosecutor Marbrey said Mitchell was arrested in January 2017 by Trenton police and charged with human trafficking offenses.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to detain him pending trial, however, he was released from custody following a detention hearing in accordance with the Criminal Justice Reform Act.
Mitchell was arrested again in May 2017 for committing new child trafficking crimes.
An investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit and the Trenton Police Department revealed Mitchell forced multiple children with ages between 12 and 16into sexual slavery at various points during 2017.
In a New Year’s Day 2017 incident, he gave a 16-year-old girl a cell phone to advertise for sex online and rented a motel room.
In a March 2017 incident, he held a 12-year-old girl against her will, forced her to have sex with him multiple times, and arranged for the girl to have sex with other men who answered his Backpage.com ad to go on a date with the victim.
In a May 2017 incident, he befriended a 15-year-old girl, then threatened her and forced her to have sex with him.
He then took nude photos of her to post on Backpage.com, set up dates with the men who responded to the online ads, and kept all the money she was paid. 
Mitchell was also charged with sexually assaulting a runaway 15-year-old foster child at a Monmouth Place prostitution house in Trenton.
After the investigation revealed Mitchell to be the main actor behind the child prostitution operation, his co-defendant, Daquan Patton, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution.
Patton is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, 2026.