March 26, 2015

Jury Convicts Modesto Man for Production of Child Pornography and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Minor

FRESNO, CA—After a five–day trial, a federal jury found Ricky Davis, 36, of Modesto, guilty late Wednesday afternoon of production of child pornography and attempted sex trafficking of a minor, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. The trial was held before United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii.

According to evidence presented at trial, in September 2011 Davis invited a 13-year-old minor to his home for the ostensible purpose of giving her a tattoo. After her arrival, Davis instead took sexually explicit photographs of her and posted them online within an advertisement for prostitution. Davis also provided the minor’s contact information to someone responding to this advertisement. An analysis of digital evidence revealed the photographs to have been on Davis’s cellphone and computer, and metadata from the pictures established that they were taken from a cellphone matching the make and model of defendant’s phone. After the presentation of evidence, the jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching its verdict.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Sacramento Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol, all members of the FBI’s Sacramento-based Child Exploitation Task Force, as well as the South San Francisco Police Department and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian W. Enos and Alyson A. Berg are prosecuting the case.

Davis has been in custody since his arrest on January 26, 2012, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ishii on June 22, 2015. Davis faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison for the production of child pornography count and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison for the attempted sex trafficking count, as well as a $250,000 fine for each count. 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 was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to prosecute those who sexually exploit children and to identify victims. For more information about PSC, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.