District Man Sentenced to Six-Year Prison Term For Engaging in Sex Trafficking of a Minor and Two Women -Victims Transported to Sexual Encounters, Forced to Turn Over All Proceeds-

            WASHINGTON – Reckay Haith, 26, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to six years in prison for prostituting and trafficking a 16-year-old girl and two adults between June 2014 and August 2014, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Haith pled guilty in December 2014, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of sex trafficking of children and two counts of pandering. He was sentenced by the Honorable Jennifer Anderson on Jan. 23, 2015.  Upon completion of his prison term, the defendant will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, Haith and his girlfriend approached the minor and her friend in Northeast Washington and recruited them to engage in prostitution.  The girlfriend—at Haith’s direction—taught the minor and her friend how to post online advertisements for sex, set the pricing structure for their sexual encounters, and directed them to turn over all proceeds from these encounters to the defendant.  Haith then transported the victims to their various encounters in Maryland and Washington D.C., and waited nearby to allow for immediate collection of the proceeds.  The defendant committed these acts despite being told by the minor that she was, in fact, 16 years of age.

            On Aug. 7, 2014, members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force received a tip that Haith was engaging in prostitution and sex trafficking activities.  After locating one of the minor’s online advertisements, members of the team immediately contacted her and arranged for an encounter in the District of Columbia.  Haith then transported the minor from a hotel in Silver Spring, Md., to the prearranged meeting location in the District of Columbia. Upon his arrival, Haith was placed under arrest.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew McCabe and Chief Lanier praised the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, as well as the MPD’s Narcotics and Special Investigation Division, Human Trafficking Unit.  They also commended those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Tierra Nanches and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Suttenberg and Danny Nguyen, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.

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