U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that TORREY LEDELL DAVIS, age 44, most recently from Metairie, pled guilty today to interstate transportation of a minor for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual activity.
According to the court documents, in November 2012 DAVIS was contacted by an individual living in the Jackson, Mississippi area. That individual inquired whether DAVIS would be willing to train the victim, who had just turned 16-years-old, to work as a prostitute. DAVIS agreed, and on Nov. 26, 2012, DAVIS drove to the Scottish Inn in Jackson, picked up the victim, and drove her back to DAVIS’s residence in Metairie. Once at the residence, DAVIS forced the victim to dress provocatively and pose for sexually suggestive photographs, which he saved on his computer. The pictures were then used to create a prostitution advertisement on an online classified advertisement website often used to promote prostitution. DAVIS also instructed the victim how to work as a prostitute, how to get clients, and how to avoid being caught by law enforcement officials. DAVIS further arranged for the victim to be paired with a female who worked as a prostitute for DAVIS for approximately one year. At DAVIS’s instruction, the female drove the victim to the French Quarter of New Orleans to work as a prostitute. While in the French Quarter that evening, law enforcement officials arrested the minor for prostitution after an undercover officer arranged for the victim to perform a sexual act on the officer in exchange for $500.
DAVIS faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and a maximum of life, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. DAVIS can also be required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance set sentencing for Feb. 24, 2016.
“The FBI New Orleans Division is committed to investigating all aspects of Human Sex Trafficking, stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeff Dutton. “Through our law enforcement collaboration, we are making every attempt to eradicate human trafficking statewide."
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police Special Victims Unit for investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg and K. Paige O’Hale are in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
