Robert Jackson, Transporting Minors for Prostitution, Milwaukee WI,…

A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for transporting two minor girls from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Iowa for purposes of having them engage in prostitution. Robert Jackson, age 32, received the prison term after a November 5, 2013, guilty plea to one count of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

At the guilty plea hearing, Jackson admitted that on July 16, 2013, he transported two females from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the purpose of having them engage in prostitution. The girls were each under 18 years of age at the time. The evidence showed that one girl was 15 years old, and the other 17 years old, at the time of the offense.

The government proved that Jackson threatened to kill the 15 year-old child and her family if she ever attempted to leave him. On one occasion when both girls left him for a time, Jackson beat the 15 year-old with a belt and raped her, and beat the 17-year-old in her face with his fists. Jackson had both girls engage in prostitution in Milwaukee and Iowa, and kept the money they earned.

Jackson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. There is no parole in the federal system. Jackson is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

“This defendant preyed on vulnerable young girls and exploited them for prostitution,” said United States Attorney Kevin W. Techau. “The underground nature of human trafficking makes it hard to fight and it can be especially dangerous for young people and disadvantaged kids in both big cities and rural areas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate human trafficking, as well as working with our local non-governmental, community-based and faith-based organizations to identify, rescue and assist victims of trafficking.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and was investigated by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Intelligence, and the Marion Police Department, with the assistance of the Milwaukee Human Trafficking Task Force. Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 13-cr-0063.

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