TRENTON, N.J. - A Spring Valley, New York, man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for trafficking and forcing a minor into prostitution for profit, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Wilbur Senat, 26, aka “Wilby," was convicted on Count Two and Count Four of a superseding indictment charging him with sex trafficking of children and transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution. He was convicted following an eight-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp, who imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to the documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:
The minor victim met Senat in the summer of 2011 in Haverstraw, New York. Shortly after they met, Senat took her to a motel in Nyack, New York, where he provided her with marijuana and alcohol and then forced her to engage in commercial sex acts with various individuals for which they paid Senat. The next day, Senat purchased tickets for himself and the minor victim in the names of “Mr. Senat" and “Ms. Senat," and boarded a bus with her, taking her from New York to Philadelphia, for the purpose of having her engage in further acts of prostitution.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Shipp sentenced Senat to a lifetime term of supervised release, the provisions of which restrict his contact with minors, and a $5,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. The New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice also provided assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly S. Lorber, R. Joseph Gribko, and Sarah M. Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.
Defense Counsel: Scott A. Krasney, Esq., West Trenton, New Jersey
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
