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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who tried to recruit a 15-year-old girl into prostitution was ordered Monday to about nine more months in the Salt Lake County Jail for an attempted human trafficking conviction, the Utah Attorney General's Office announced.
Charles Daryl Kelley, 60, was previously sentenced to a year behind bars but was given credit for time served in jail since April 14. His sentence comes on the same day he pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to attempted human trafficking of a child, a second-degree felony.
Kelley's charges of carrying on a pattern of unlawful activity, plus four counts of exploiting a prostitute, all second-degree felonies, were dropped Monday.
Kelley's failed recruitment occurred outside a Motel 6 at 7263 S. Catalpa Road in Midvale in April, court documents say. The victim was 15 years old.
"He approached a girl in a parking lot and asked if she wanted to 'make some money,'" the Utah Attorney General's Office said in a statement Monday. "Although he did not specify what he meant by this, investigators found substantial evidence that Kelley was engaged in a commercial sex operation at the motel."
Charges also allege that Kelley rented out two rooms at the hotel for two women he had recruited into prostitution. Many men visited the rooms between April 1 and April 19, the charges alleged.
Prosecutors called Kelley's sentencing a success, saying it was "consistent with his conduct in this case."
"The (prosecutors) agreed to recommend a sentence equal to the low-end of this term because Kelley did not succeed in obtaining the 15-year-old for commercial sex but only solicited the child," the Utah Attorney General's Office stated. "Further, the plea will avoid retraumatizing the child victim by bringing her into the court process."
Kelley, whose address is not included in the charges against him, has no previous criminal history in Utah, according to court records. Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com Twitter: @benlockhartnews
