Chicago man sentenced to 12 years for sex trafficking 15-year-old girl
CHICAGO (CBS) - A Chicago man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, after pleading guilty earlier this year to sex trafficking charges involving a 15-year-old girl.
William McBeth, 39, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of transporting an individual with intent that the individual engage in prostitution.
McBeth admitted to taking the girl to homes and hotels in Chicago, the suburbs, and Wisconsin to have sex with others for money multiple times in December 2015, when she was 15 years old.
According to his plea deal, McBeth admitted giving the girl drugs and alcohol, and buying her makeup, new clothes, and condoms to keep her working as a prostitute.
In their sentencing recommendation, prosecutors said the girl was living at an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services group home at the time, and met McBeth while she was out one night with a friend, who introduced him to her as "Tony."
After meeting the girl, McBeth offered her cocaine, and gave her alcohol and marijuana, then drove her to a house, where he convinced her to have sex with a man for money.
The next morning, the girl asked McBeth to take her home, because she did not want to miss out on a trip to see her sisters at a skating rink, but instead he took her to a department store to get her makeup done, and then took her to another house to have sex with two different men for money, giving her only $50 from what he was paid.
After eventually taking her back home, McGee and his girlfriend picked her up again the next day, after she got upset about missing her time with her sisters, and became frustrated and upset about living in the group home.
Over the next several days, the girl had sex with several men – and occasionally McGee's girlfriend – and gave all the money she was paid to him. According to prosecutors, some of McGee's johns became violent with the girl, but he and his girlfriend did nothing to help her. Instead, in at least one case, McGee's girlfriend held her down and forced her to have sex with a "creepy" stranger.
During the time she was with McGee, she had sex with six or seven men a day, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said the girl wanted to earn money to buy winter coats and Christmas presents for her sisters, but McBeth kept most of the money from prostitution to himself, including using $2,000 of the funds as a down payment on a new Lexus.
On Christmas Eve 2015, after nearly a week of forcing her to have sex for money, McGee took the girl back to the DCFS group home, "giving her little more than $100 and leaving her with a lifetime of emotional scars," prosecutors said in their sentencing recommendation, which sought a
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 18 years in prison, but on Thursday U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama sentenced McBeth to 12 years. McBeth also must pay nearly $67,000 in restitution to his victim.
