New Jersey Man Sentenced for Taking a Minnesota Girl to Denver for Prostitution

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 43-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced for enticing a 16-year-old Minnesota girl to engage in prostitution. United States District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery sentenced Floyd Henry, of Newark, New Jersey, to 100 months in federal prison, along with 10 years of supervised release, on one count of inducing travel to engage in criminal sexual activity. Henry was indicted on March 8, 2011, and pleaded guilty on January 6, 2012.

In his plea agreement, Henry admitted that in the fall of 2009, he met the victim in front of Cream nightclub in Minneapolis and invited her to party with him. The victim also met Henry the following evening, when Henry admittedly invited her to travel to Denver. Henry then arranged for an adult female to drive the victim to Denver while he flew there. He paid for the victim’s hotel room and directed the adult woman to take photographs of the victim to post on Backpage.com. Henry also instructed the victim on how to prostitute herself, how much to charge for various sexual acts, and how to identify uncover law enforcement. In addition, Henry received money from the victim after she engaged in sexual activity.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.

Earlier this year, Yuri Fedotov, the head of the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime reported to those attending a U.N. General Assembly meeting that an estimated 2.4 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking at any one time, with 80 percent of them being exploited as sex slaves. He also said that approximately $32 billion is earned collectively every year by the criminals who operate human trafficking networks. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked annually within the U.S. alone.