Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced Jonathan M. Went, a/k/a “Jon Maxx," and “Max Out," age 31, of Massachusetts and Gwynn Oak, Maryland, today to 71 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a child. Judge Russell also ordered that upon his release from prison, Went must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.
According to Went’s guilty plea and other court documents, on March 5, 2014, co-defendant Rayvon O. Archibald encountered a girl under the age of 14 in New York City and provided her with alcohol and drugs. The next day, Archibald transported the girl by bus from New York to White Marsh, Maryland, then by taxi to Went’s apartment in Gwynn Oak. Before they left New York, Archibald called Went to let him know that he would arrive in Baltimore later that day. That same day, Archibald and Went posted an ad on a commercial sex website soliciting customers for the girl which listed the number for a phone used by Went. Archibald also instructed the girl on pricing for commercial sex acts and provided her with a document that included prices. After the ad was posted, customers responded to the ad on that phone through at least midnight and at least one of the customers engaged in a commercial sex act with the victim.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on March 6, 2014, the girl used Went’s phone to secretly send a message to her mother advising that she was not able to leave. After receiving the message, the girl’s mother reported her daughter missing to the police. The next morning, the girl secretly left Went’s apartment and called 911 from Went’s phone. The police found the girl at a nearby intersection. The girl gave police the address of Went’s apartment and told police that there were two men and a woman inside the location. The girl reported that she was held against her will inside Went’s apartment building. The girl identified Archibald as her captor and stated that he had assaulted her.
Police went to the apartment and arrested Went, Archibald and a woman. A search warrant was executed and police seized electronic devices, including the phone the girl used to contact her mother and the device used to place the ad on the commercial sex website. Both the girl and the woman who was arrested independently told police that one customer who came to the apartment demanded his money back because the girl was too young. The woman and the girl gave the money back to the customer, and when they told Archibald what happened, he slapped them both.
Rayvon O. Archibald, a/k/a “P Money," “Keyvon M. Malone," “Keyvon Smith," and “Scoobie," age 26, of Boston, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child and was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Task Force coordinates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit to identify missing children being advertised online for prostitution.
MCETF partners with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, Maryland State Police and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Sandra Wilkinson, who prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
