A California man was sentenced this week to eight years in federal prison for transporting two minor girls from Oakland to Nevada for the purpose of working as prostitutes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced.
According to court documents, one girl was 12 and one was 16 years old when they met defendants Seagram Joshua Miller, now 21, and Ray Darnell Webb, now 20. The 12-year-old was already working as a prostitute, according to the FBI. The group posted an online ad and traveled to Las Vegas to meet potential clients in the spring of 2013. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The prosecution was handled under Project Safe Childhood (PSC), “a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” the FBI reports.
U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden said: “These sentences send a strong message that coercing a minor to work as a prostitute is a deplorable and shameful crime that will land you in prison for a long time.”