Michigan Man Sentenced to 45 Years in Federal Prison for Violently Forcing Children to Engage in Prostitution

CHICAGO — A Michigan man has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for violently forcing two children and a young woman to engage in prostitution.

FABRIEAL DELANEY, 32, brought some of his victims to the Chicago area from Michigan to perform sex acts for money.  He used violence, verbal abuse and drug addiction to maintain control over his victims, all of whom were 16 years old or younger when he befriended them and began grooming them for prostitution.

U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah on Wednesday imposed the 45-year sentence in federal court in Chicago.  Delaney, of Battle Creek, Mich., and formerly of Palatine, Ill., was previously convicted by a jury on eight sex trafficking counts. 

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, the Illinois State Police, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, the FBI field divisions in Detroit and Kalamazoo, Mich., the Kalamazoo, Mich., Police Department, the Battle Creek, Mich., Police Department, and the Stop-It Program of the Salvation Army Family and Community Services.

“The defendant preyed upon young and vulnerable girls for his own profit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rajnath Laud argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant’s crime is incredibly serious, and warrants a sentence of several decades in prison.”

Evidence at trial revealed that Delaney took photographs of the girls and posted them in online advertisements offering commercial sex.  He rented hotel rooms that were used for encounters with individuals who responded to the advertisements.  Delaney at first took half of the money earned by his victims, but eventually he took all of it.

In July 2011, Delaney transported two minor females and a young woman from Michigan to a hotel in Tinley Park, Ill., to engage in prostitution at what Delaney believed was a bachelor party.  Delaney expected the victims to engage in sexual activity with up to 12 men for $150 to $300 per customer.  Unbeknownst to Delaney, the purported bachelor party was a ruse set up by federal law enforcement that had been investigating his sex trafficking crimes.  Delaney was arrested and has remained in custody ever since.

Some of Delaney’s victims testified at trial about their ordeals.  The adult victim testified that Delaney threatened her by holding a hot iron next to her face.