FORT SMITH, AR—Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Odis Charles Grant, Jr., age 30, aka “Flawless”, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of Transportation of Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity. The Honorable P.K. Holmes III presided over the hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.

In his plea agreement, Grant admitted to transporting two juveniles from Fort Smith to Texas in November, 2014 with the intent that the two minor females engage in prostitution in the Houston, Texas area. Grant utilized Facebook to recruit and communicate with the minors. Grant also admitted to directing another individual to take photographs of the minors which were used in ads posted in the escort section of a website. According to the minors, they engaged in prostitution while in Houston and provided the money to Grant.

This case was investigated by the Fort Smith Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case for the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.