Skip to main content
Press Release

Lima men sentenced to life in prison and 30 years in prison for sex trafficking conspiracy involving teen girls

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio

A Lima man was sentenced to life in prison and another was sentenced to 30 years in prison for their role in a conspiracy in which girls, then 14 and 16 years old, were forced into commercial sex acts, said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman, FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony and Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary sentenced Lorenzo Young to life in prison and Aundre Davis to 30 years in prison. Davis and Lorenzo Young were convicted by a jury earlier this year on charges including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking of a minor and other crimes. 

Megan Hitt, Randy Thompson and three other people previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the conspiracy and have been sentenced to prison.

Young, Davis, Thompson and Hitt conspired to cause girls, aged 14 and 16, to engage in commercial sex acts in Lima and Fort Wayne, Indiana. They did this by taking and posting sexually explicit photos of the girls on backpage.com, transporting the girls, renting motel rooms for them and negotiating prices. This took place between November 2015 and January 2016, according to court documents and trial testimony.

“These defendants preyed on teen girls so they could line their pockets with money,” Herdman said.

“These individuals violated the rights of some of our most vulnerable in our community - the children,” Anthony said. “The FBI will continue working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue justice for human trafficking victims and to put their perpetrators behind bars."

“Human trafficking is a devastating crime that must be stopped. It victimizes people within every segment of society throughout our nation,” Martin said. “I want to thank the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for their help in enforcing the law against those who will engage in human trafficking within the Lima community. We are grateful for the cooperative working relationship we have with them and the many other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that are working together to make human trafficking a thing of the past. The Lima Police Department cannot accomplish this alone.” 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Toledo office and the Lima Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alissa M. Sterling.

Contact

Mike Tobin
216.622.3651
michael.tobin@usdoj.gov

Updated January 2, 2018

Topic
Human Trafficking