SACRAMENTO, CALIF.
A federal judge sentenced 25-year-old Shanntaye Ebony Hicks, of Sacramento, to 24 years and four months in prison for two counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, authorities announced Friday.
The woman allegedly preyed on runaways and other victims, officials stated.
According to court documents, these are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case:
- Hicks recruited at least four teenaged victims (aged between 13 and 17 years old) to engage in criminal sexual activity.
- Hicks posted advertisements soliciting customers to have sex with the teenaged victims, received telephone calls from customers and negotiated prices.
- She transported the teenaged victims to the customers, and collected money the customers gave the victims.
- Hicks targeted vulnerable minor victims, some of whom were runaways, befriended them, and induced them to engage in sex acts with strangers by providing them with drugs and alcohol.
- Hicks also brandished a handgun and used threats of violence to enforce the loyalty of her victims and to prevent them from fleeing from her control.
- She transported one of her teenaged victims to several cities in California and Nevada with the intent that the minor engage in sex acts for money.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner stated: “The sentence imposed today appropriately reflects the very real and lasting harm the defendant inflicted upon her young victims. My office, together with our partners at the Innocence Lost task force, will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those engaging in the abuse and sexual exploitation of minors.”
“Perpetrators of these crimes can be male or female. Regardless, those who exploit children and manipulate these victims solely for financial gain will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law,” said Supervisory Special Agent Maria Johnson of the Sacramento field office of the FBI. “We are grateful for the continued partnership that exists among our agencies who are part of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. These investigators are fully committed to identifying and investigating individuals who prey upon our children to end their criminal operations.”