Franklin County Man Admits Child Sex Trafficking

ST. LOUIS – A man from Franklin County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted exchanging cash and other items of value for sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., 63, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to a felony charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He admitted that from the winter of 2013 to the summer of 2016, he provided cash, a car, a motorcycle, Christmas presents and vacations to a friend in exchange for access to the victim, a 14-year-old girl.

As part of his plea, Sartori has also agreed to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to his victim.

Sartori is scheduled to be sentenced November 6. The charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

The FBI, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are asking for the public’s help in locating Sartori’s co-defendant, Donald Eugene Fields II, 60. He was indicted in 2022 but has not been arrested. More information is available at https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/donald-eugene-fields-ii.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
 
The case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.