Fort Smith Man Sentenced to 12 1/2 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of a Minor

            Fayetteville - Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Randall Tyrell Steward, aka Randall Stewart, aka “Trouble”, age 31 of Fort Smith, was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison and five (5) years of supervised release on one count of Sex Trafficking of a Minor. The sentencing took place before the Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

            According to court records, on August 27, 2015, a 17-year-old female was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  She reported that she had run away from home and came in contact with Steward in early June of 2015.  She stated she worked as a prostitute for Steward out of a Fayetteville, Arkansas hotel and that Steward used backpage.com to advertise her as a prostitute. Agents were able to obtain records from the Fayetteville hotel and backpage.com to corroborate the information that the minor female victim had provided.  Steward was indicted by a federal grand jury in October, 2015 and pleaded guilty to the charge in December, 2015. 

            “The sentence today for Steward is the result of effective collaboration among law enforcement and our enduring resolve to protect juveniles from being exploited for the purpose of prostitution,” stated Special Agent in Charge Diane Upchurch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Little Rock. “We appreciate the strong commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office and our federal, state and local partners who continue to work to identify these predators and their victims.”

            This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Fort Smith Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case for the United States.

            The 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 their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

*  *  *    E N D    *  *  *

Related court documents may be found on Public Access to Electronic Records Website @www.Pacer.gov