DC man sentenced to 30 years for sex trafficking 14-year-old girl

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A 29-year-old man will serve three decades in prison for sex trafficking a 14-year-old girl from Virginia in 2020.

The United States Attorney’s Office for DC announced Wednesday that James E. Coleman, 29, was sentenced for trafficking the teenage girl for commercial sex with strangers. Coleman’s sentence comes after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a child and child pornography in May 2022.

According to court documents, Coleman worked with a co-conspirator to traffic the 14-year-old girl, whom he knew was underage.

Starting on June 30, 2020, he took explicit pictures and videos of the girl to market her on websites advertising for commercial sex services. Coleman also recorded them engaging in sexual acts.

Coleman directed the girl to charge certain amounts for sexual services and gave her specific prices for increments of time that she spent with each person. He also told the teen that if a person asked her age, she was to tell them she was 21 years old.

Following the sexual acts, Coleman would then pocket the money.

During one instance in July of 2020, Coleman told the girl to give him the money, but she refused. That’s when he beat her with a broomstick, assaulted her wth a knife, cut off her clothes and left her naked in the hallway of his building, according to officials.

In addition to the 30-year sentence, the judge ordered Coleman to 15 years of supervised release and to pay $25,000 in restitution to the victim.