FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2007 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRM (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON Two Massachusetts residents were sentenced for their role in arranging for a minor to work as a prostitute in several New England states, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan of the District of Massachusetts announced today.
Robert Williams and Brooke Denman were sentenced by Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the U.S. District Court in Boston for various crimes including conspiring to transport an individual in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, transporting a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, and sex trafficking of children. Williams was sentenced to 151 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Denman was sentenced to three years of probation.
On Feb. 27, 2006, Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, one count of sex trafficking of children, two counts of inducing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, four counts of transporting a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and three counts of transporting an individual in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution.
On Feb. 9, 2006, Denman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking of children.
Also on Feb. 9, 2006, a third co-defendant, Dawn Young, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, one count of sex trafficking of children, one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of transporting an individual in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution. Young has not yet been sentenced.
The defendants admitted to participating in a conspiracy between October 2000 and September 2002 in which they used a minor for prostitution activities in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Williams and Young took some or all of the minors earnings from prostitution and helped her to obtain false identification documents. The conspiracy also involved causing the minor, who was 13 to 15 years old during the alleged crimes, to receive prostitution calls through Young, who operated an escort service.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Wendy Waldron in the Department of Justices Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Balthazard in the Economic Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorneys Office in the District of Massachusetts, with assistance from Assistant Attorney General Dana Dee Leccese in the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office.
This case is part of the Innocence Lost Initiative, a cooperative effort between the FBI, the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to prevent and prosecute child prostitution. As of Jan. 23, 2007, the initiative has resulted in 275 open investigations, 697 arrests, 160 informations or indictments, and 136 convictions in the federal and state systems. 07-057
Source: US Department of Justice
