The Human Trafficking Trial of Alexander Fanchaut
A Walla Walla man faces federal charges for bringing a French woman to the United States under false promises of marriage and coercing her into sex work.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the United States district court yesterday, Alexander Fanchaut, a native of France, sought to clear himself of the charge of bringing Blanche Maclez, a woman of his own nationality, into this country for immoral purposes. The government is prosecuting Fanchaut, with Miss Maclez, who is 19 years of age, as his accuser. The girl testified that she had been taken in charge in Paris by the defendant and traveled with him to New York and eventually to Walla Walla. She claimed that she met Fanchaut at the home of her sister, who advised her to marry him, but that he objected to the marriage in France. Upon reaching Walla Walla, Fanchaut allegedly insisted that she earn money by leading the life of a 'fallen woman.' Louise Valdez, of Walla Walla, testified that Fanchaut had approached her with the intent of placing Blanche in a local house. Fanchaut entered a general denial, claiming that he intended to marry Blanche upon their arrival in the United States and that he had paid for her wardrobe and travel expenses in good faith.
“The man she had supposed would wed her insisted, she testified, that she earn money, intimating that it could be earned easier by leading the life of a fallen woman.”
This case highlights the reality of labor exploitation and sex trafficking in early 20th-century Washington, where vulnerable immigrants were often funneled into brothels under the guise of work or marriage. Similar patterns of exploitation continue to challenge local authorities, reminding us that 'immoral purposes' in the legal parlance of 1903 often masked systematic violence against women.
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