Houston Man Gets 30 Years for Trafficking Children for Commercial Sex

HOUSTON – A 41-year-old Houston man is headed to prison after for trafficking children for commercial sex and attempting to do so during the 2012 Olympics, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. 

A federal jury convicted Jason Daniel Gandy July 23, 2018, on four counts of sex trafficking of minors, one count of transportation of minors, one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of transportation of child pornography following a three-day trial and less than three hours of deliberations.

Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ordered Gandy to serve a total of 360 months in prison. Following his incarceration, Gandy will be on supervised release for the rest of his life, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

At the hearing, three young men provided testimony about how Gandy victimized them and how it impacted, and continues to influence, their lives. They stated that Gandy had made them feel worthless and stole their innocence and that they have struggled with substance abuse and thoughts of suicide since their victimizations. 

The court gave Gandy the opportunity to address the court, at which time he continued his attempts at manipulating the victims. He showed no remorse and attempted to cast himself in the role of victim.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Rosenthal called Gandy “an abuser of vulnerable human beings.” “You are evil,” she said, “and most evil are those who willingly exploit others for their own gratification.” The court noted the need for restitution for the victims outweighed the need for a fine and therefore waived it. That restitution will be addressed at a later date. 

United Kingdom immigration officers stopped Gandy in July 2012 after he and a minor male child arrived in London on a flight which originated in Houston. The officials in London believed something was amiss about someone of his age traveling with a 15-year-old male who are not related.  Both individuals were returned to Houston on separate airplanes.

Upon arrival in Houston, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) met them. Their investigation revealed Gandy ran a massage business out of his home and was using the young boy to give massages. During the massages, paying customers were allowed to fondle the child. He was also required to sexually gratify customers by masturbating them.

Gandy paid for the trip to London and the child’s passport fees. Gandy’s intent was for the child to perform massages in London during the 2012 Olympics.   The investigation also revealed Gandy molested the child on more than one occasion and intended to continue to do so. 

After authorities had detained Gandy on the original transportation of minor charge, further investigation revealed there were multiple young men who Gandy victimized, some as minors and some as adults. During trial, four of the identified victims - all minors at the time of the exploitation - testified as to how Gandy manipulated them into performing massages on men which culminated in the sexual gratification of the client. 

Gandy has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

HSI conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherri L. Zack and Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."