Denton man and his girlfriend go to prison for prostituting a minor

Dallas – A Denton man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for selling a teenage girl for sex.

William Adam Jonathan Smith, 31, was convicted in September of one count of sex trafficking of a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. He was sentenced Monday to 15 years for each count, to be served simultaneously, he said. the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

According to court records, Smith met the victim, a 17-year-old girl, in the summer of 2019 and introduced her to his girlfriend, Charity Cantu, whom he told to groom the minor to become a prostitute.

Cantú and the victim performed sex acts for money in North Texas for three months, until authorities recovered the minor during an undercover operation in October 2019.

The two women made $ 5,000 to $ 6,000 per month, and that money was deposited into Smith’s bank account through PayPal and Cash App, the court documents say.

Cantú, 26, will not go to prison that long. She testified against Smith, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge last year and was sentenced to two years behind bars.

“This ruling sends a clear message to those seeking to victimize children,” Acting US Attorney Prerak Shah said in a written statement. “The Department of Justice will use all available tools to eliminate predators from the street or from the Internet and put them behind bars.”