Two California Residents Indicted for Sex Trafficking of Six Victims

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Sacramento, Calif., residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for the sex trafficking of six victims.

Ronald Ean Taylor, 43, and Kimberly Anne Sanford, 33, both of Sacramento, were charged in a 10-count federal indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Taylor was arrested in California and Sanford in Nebraska on Friday, Dec. 15, 2017. The indictment was unsealed today.

The federal indictment charges Taylor and Sanford together in six counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud or coercion. According to the indictment, Taylor and Sanford trafficked six separate victims at various times between Nov. 1, 2014, and May 31, 2017. They allegedly used force, fraud or coercion to cause (or attempt to cause) the six victims to engage in prostitution, from which Taylor and Sanford benefitted financially.

Taylor and Sanford are also charged together in four counts of transporting (or attempting to transport) an individual across state lines for prostitution. According to the indictment, Taylor and Sanford transported, or attempted to transport, four of the sex trafficking victims across state lines for prostitution.

Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Los Angeles, Calif., Police Department and the Sacramento, Calif., Police Department in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Rescue Project.