Federal judgments of judgments for minor sex traffic – news and stanly press

Charlotte-a man from Charlotte and his co-conspirator were sentenced to prison for minor sex, said Lawrence J. Cameron, an American lawyer for North Carolina Western District.
Robert M. Dewitt, a special agent responsible for the North Carolina FBI joins the American lawyer Cameron to make the announcement.
Tawaan Batten, 34 years old, also known as “Slicc”, was sentenced to 34 years in prison, followed by 30 years of supervised release.
In December 2023, Batten was sentenced to the conspiracy process for committing a minor sexual traffic, a minor’s sexual trafficking and the transport of a minor with the intention to get involved in commercial sexual activities. Batten’s co-conspirator, Kristi Heather King, 34 years old, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a period of supervised release, after being guilty of conspiracy for committing minor sex traffic.
“Batten and his girlfriend since then have preyed on a vulnerable child and have repeatedly subjected her to a physical and psychological evil for their profit,” said Cameron. “Today’s sentence sends a clear message: federal prosecutors and law enforcement undertake to make sure that sex traffickers will face the full force of justice.”
“It is difficult to understand that someone would sell a child for sex. But that’s exactly what Batten and King have done and now they will both do federal prison for their crimes, “Dewitt said. “The FBI works tirelessly to accountable for those who carry out crimes against children and dedicate significant resources to help victims of sex traffic recover from the traumas with which it suffers.”
According to the evidence presented at the process of Batten, the testimony of witnesses and judicial documents, from July 2021 to December 2021, Batten, sometimes assisted by the king, treated a minor victim of 15 years. Batten met the minor victim, who had fled her house, in a parking lot of the hotel in Charlotte. Then Batten introduced the minor victim to the king, who was Batten’s girlfriend at that time. The minor victim began to engage in commercial sex transactions shortly after meeting with Batten.
The evidence showed that Batten, sometimes assisted by King, created and posted commercials of the minor victim on commercial sex sites and arranged for the minor victim to engage in sexual meetings with customers, usually several times per day.
Most of these meetings took place in the hotel rooms reserved by Batten in North Carolina and South Carolina. Other times, Batten and King led the minor victim to a client’s location to get involved in commercial sex. Batten kept the money that the victim obtained from these commercial sexual meetings and continued to make the victim work even when he did not feel good.
According to the testimony and evidence at Batten’s process, Batten gave the minor drugs. Batten also controlled the minor victim by intimidation and manipulation, including the marking of the minor victim with tattoos. Batten also physically assaulted King several times.
Batten remains in the federal custody while waiting for the placement to a federal prisons installation.
In the announcement, Cameron congratulated the FBI for leaving this investigation and thanked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department.
US assistant lawyers, Stephanie Spaugh and Daniel Cervantes, from the Charlotte’s US Lawyer office, have been following the case.
If you are the victim of human trafficking or you can have information about a potential traffic situation, call the FBI, apply local law or to the National Product Trafficking Center (NHTRC) on 1-888-373-7888.
NHTRC is a national telephone line, without tax, with specialists available to respond to calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year, related to potential victims of traffic, suspicious behaviors and /or locations in which traffic is suspected of being suspected.
To send advice to the NHTRC online visit https://humantrafetkinghotline.org/report-traffing.