Three Charged with Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Production Offenses

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Paul “Yoshi” Moore, 49, of Sacramento; Kevin “Ket” Hawkins, 45, of Sacramento; and Timothy Lee, 44, formerly of Sacramento, with offenses involving the sex trafficking of minors. A federal grand jury returned the indictment on October 27, and it was sealed until federal agents arrested Hawkins and Moore this morning. Lee is currently in custody in New Mexico, facing federal charges of sex trafficking of minors in Colorado.

The indictment alleges that Moore produced sexually explicit images of three minors in 2006. The indictment also alleges that Moore recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, and maintained the three minors, identified as T.T., T.B., and A.B., knowing that each was under 18 years of age, and that each would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act. Moore was also charged with the possession of matter containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, on February 22, 2007.

Kevin Hawkins was charged with aiding and abetting the production of sexually explicit images of the minor A.B and with the aiding and abetting of the sex trafficking of A.B. Timothy Lee was charged with aiding and abetting the production of sexually explicit images of the minor T.T. and with the sex trafficking of T.T.

Hawkins was arraigned on the indictment today by United States Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. He was detained pending a detention hearing on November 4, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. Moore is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, November 3, 2010. A status conference is set for December 17, 2010, before Senior United States District Court Judge Edward J. Garcia. Assistant United States Attorney Laurel D. White is prosecuting the case.

U.S. Attorney Wagner said, “The sexual exploitation of children for profit is a crime that results in long-term harm to its victims. We are more active than ever in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting sex trafficking of minors, and we will continue to work with our state and local law enforcement allies to combat this pernicious crime.”

The statutory penalty for sex trafficking of children is a maximum 40 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release. The child pornography production charge carries a 15-year mandatory minimum, up to 30-year maximum term in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the FBI and the Sacramento Police Department and was part of the Innocence Lost Task Force efforts to identify and rescue child victims of sex trafficking in the Sacramento area. The Sacramento FBI office established the task force in 2006. It is made up of FBI agents, Sacramento Police detectives, and Sacramento County Sheriff’s detectives. Although its purpose is to recover juveniles involved in prostitution locally, the task force targets individuals who lure minors into prostitution and who facilitate the commercial sex trafficking of minors. Since its inception, the task force has recovered approximately 150 juveniles.