A 24-year-old man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for working with his mother to force a local runaway into prostitution, beginning when the girl was 15, an attorney said Tuesday.
Joshua Jerome Davis of Long Beach was handed the 70-month term on Monday during a Los Angeles federal court sentencing hearing, which was closed to the public. The sentencing was confirmed by Davis’ attorney to local media.
Davis pleaded guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy and two federal counts of sex trafficking of a minor by force, threats and coercion.
He was arrested two years ago when investigators rescued the now-19-year-old victim, who was with Davis’ mother.
Sharilyn Kae Anderson, 46, also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced August 10.
The investigation began in 2012 when the teen’s dad reported her missing to Long Beach police.
Authorities found that Davis, assisted and counseled by his mom, forced the victim to act as a prostitute at several hotels in Southern California and transported her across state lines to Nevada to engage in commercial sex at Las Vegas casinos, authorities said.
When Davis was unavailable, his mother helped facilitate the prostitution scheme by transporting the teen and a second victim to hotels to engage in prostitution, according to court documents.
Anderson also threatened and assaulted the second victim to intimidate her into continuing to make money for Davis through prostitution, according to prosecutors.
Davis was initially arrested in April 2013 and booked into the Long Beach City Jail on state pandering and human trafficking violations.
Davis told investigators then that he obtained a hotel room for the teenage victim in Las Vegas “out of the goodness of his heart,” according to a case affidavit.
After posting bond in the state case, Davis absconded to the Las Vegas area, where he reunited with the teen and resumed his commercial sex activities, prosecutors said.
City News Service contributed to this report.