A federal judge sentenced a man convicted of prostituting an Oklahoma teenager to more than 12 years in prison.
In February, Jerrod Lamonte Marshall pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution. He was charged after Missouri police picked up a 15-year-old girl, identified in court documents as M.S., for prostitution, and she told them that she had worked as a prostitute for Marshall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, prior to being taken to Joplin.
In Oklahoma, the legal age of consent is 16, and in neighboring Missouri, it is 17; however, it is a violation of federal law for anyone under the age of 18 to engage in commercial sexual activity, including pornography and exotic dancing. Furthermore, federal law stipulates that anyone under the age of 18 who engages in prostitution is considered to be a victim of human trafficking.
Typically, prostitution and human trafficking are prosecuted at the state level, but when a minor is transported across state lines, the interstate nature of the act brings it under federal jurisdiction. The illegal transportation of minors is described in 18 USC § 2423 of the United States Criminal Code. The section of the statute governing transportation of minors (§ 2423a) reads as follows:
(a) Transportation With Intent To Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.— A person who knowingly transports an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, with intent that the individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 10 years or for life.
This statute also prohibits foreign and domestic travel for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity, also called "sex tourism." Sex tourism is illegal even if the act of engaging in sex with a minor is legal in the destination country. Travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places are each penalized by a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Recently an Oklahoma City lawyer and a bail bondsman from Ada were accused of sex tourism after allegedly traveling to Peru some 30 times in the past 8 years for the purpose of engaging in sex with underage girls. The men were subject to a search warrant filed in federal court, but as of this writing, neither had been charged.
Being charged with a sex crime can carry decades in prison and lifelong repercussions. To find an attorney equipped to handle your defense click here, or visit our website to submit a confidential case review form and schedule your free consultation.
