VIRGINIA – A federal judge on Monday sentenced a member of a violent street gang to five years in prison for helping a female minor runaway from home and arranging for her to stay with other gang members who coerced her into prostitution, officials said.
Victor Manuel Contreras, 29, of Manassas, Virginia, plead guilty to obstructing and interfering with the enforcement of federal sex trafficking laws, authorities said.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
According to court evidence, On July 2011, Contreras engaged in chats via Facebook with a minor female. In those chats, she indicated a desire to run away from home, and Contreras told her that he would help her if she did so.
Once the girl ran away from home, Contreras arranged for her to stay with other MS-13 gang members, who subsequently coerced her into prostitution. When law enforcement officers interviewed Contreras during their search for the girl, Contreras lied about his relationship with her, and then called other MS-13 gang members to warn them that law enforcement officers were looking for her, the evidence indicated.