Providence Resident Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking 14-Year-Old Group Home Resident

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Paul Monteiro, a/k/a Peezy, 32, of Providence, was sentenced today to 144 months (12 years) in federal prison for transporting a 14-year-old Rhode Island girl to New Jersey for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity.

Monteiro and the minor female were located in a hotel room in Franklin Township, New Jersey, on April 6, 2015, by agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and Franklin Township police, five months after she was reported missing from a group home in Rhode Island.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith also ordered Monteiro to serve 5 years supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration. The court deferred ruling on restitution to the victim to a later date. Monteiro pleaded guilty on October 6, 2016, to sex trafficking of a child.

The mandatory minimum sentence in this matter is 120 months imprisonment. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of imprisonment in this matter is 151-188 months. The government recommended the court impose a sentence of 188 months in prison.

Monteiro’s sentence is announced by Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for New England; and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

In March 23, 2015, Rhode Island State Police detectives received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of a report of a juvenile female from Rhode Island who had allegedly been sexually molested by an adult male she met on Facebook. The investigation determined that the victim was a 14-year-old girl reported missing on November 20, 2014, from a group home in Rhode Island.

According to court documents, on April 6, 2015, Rhode Island State Police tracked a cell phone in the possession of the missing teenager to Franklin Township, New Jersey. Agents from HSI and the FBI, and police officers from Franklin Township located the missing girl and Paul Monteiro in a hotel room in Franklin Township. Monteiro was arrested by Franklin Township police on New Jersey state charges and detained.

 As a result of information provided to investigators by the victim, an HSI agent located a Backpage.com advertisement depicting the young girl and a solicitation for male companionship. The girl later confirmed for investigators that she was the person in the picture and that Monteiro arranged for her to participate in sex acts with at least two individuals who responded to the advertisement.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.

The United States Attorney’s Office acknowledges and thanks the Somerset County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance in ensuring the quick return of Paul Monteiro to Rhode Island for prosecution in U.S. District Court in Providence.

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