Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for drugging children and then trafficking them for sex.
News outlets report 37-year-old Willie Charles Blackmon Jr. was sentenced Monday after being convicted in November of sex trafficking minors and promoting a prostitution business. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender and sentenced to a lifetime of supervised released.
Prosecutors say an investigation into the prostitution ring led by Blackmon started in 2014. Authorities say he bought a runaway minor for $500 and then recruited other runaways for prostitution. U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst says Blackmon would rent hotel rooms in Jackson and Vicksburg where the children would be prostituted. Prosecutors say Blackmon also harmed the children if they refused to perform sex acts.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
