Md. Men Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Minors Across East Coast

HYATTSVILLE, MD — Two Hyattsville men were sentenced to prison for sex trafficking three minors throughout the East Coast in 2016, prosecutors announced. The men hoped to be successful rappers and used the money to fund their careers.

Dennis Davis Jr., also known as Dee, 26, and Ivan Williams, aka Lucci, 28, were each sentenced to 26 years in prison Friday after they were convicted on four counts of sex trafficking in January.

Two co-defendants were previously sentenced: Chelsea Canterbury aka Katt, 26, was sentenced to 50 months and Rebecca Ann Hamilton, 22, was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Prosecutors said Davis, Williams and their co-conspirators recruited three underage girls and trafficked them in numerous locations, including: Maryland, Northern Virginia, Richmond, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

"Davis and Williams used the money earned by the victims to create rap music where they bragged about exploiting females, and to fund their day-to-day living expenses," prosecutors said.

The group posted online advertisements on sites like Backpage.com that offered the victims for commercial sex with men throughout the East Coast, prosecutors said.

Davis and Williams also reserved hotel rooms for the victims to stay at and drove the victims to hotels and other locations where the sex acts occurred.

The men also "collected the money given to the victims by the commercial sex customers," prosecutors said.

Two of the underage girls tried to leave the group, but the men physically assaulted them and threatened them with guns, prosecutors said.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force investigated the case with substantial assistance from the Fairfax County Police Department and the Henrico County Police Department.

This investigation was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Photo via Shutterstock