Charlotte Pimp Kenwaniee Vontorian Tate Gets 40 Years for Sex Trafficking

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kenwaniee Vontorian Tate, 41, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking by fraud and force, and committing these crimes while already required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. handed down the sentence today, marking a grim end to a predatory spree that exploited a 15-year-old runaway girl in a brutal cycle of violence and commercial sex.

Tate was ordered to serve a lifetime under court supervision following his prison term, must register as a sex offender, and pay $42,100 in restitution to his victim. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose for the Western District of North Carolina, alongside Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas, and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

“Tate preyed upon a vulnerable young girl, lured her into a world of sex and violence and exploited her in the worst possible way,” U.S. Attorney Rose said. “Sex trafficking and victimizing minors for financial gain is a reprehensible crime. My office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute sex traffickers who profit from prostituting minors.”

Between September 2014 and February 2015, Tate forced the minor into prostitution, moving her between hotels as she was advertised online and sold for sex. Trial evidence showed Tate controlled every dime she earned and ruled her life with absolute authority—requiring her permission to eat, sleep, or speak. He used physical violence to maintain control: slapping her, punching her in the face, yanking her hair, throwing her to the ground, and slamming her head into walls. Witnesses testified he avoided visible facial injuries after one beating, knowing bruises would cut into profits.

Special Agent in Charge Nick Annan condemned Tate’s actions as among the most depraved. “Human traffickers strip victims of their humanity; treating them as little more than pieces of meat to generate cash,” Annan said. “The depravity of the subject in this particular case reaches its lowest form, by forcing underage girls into this dark underworld of abuse and victimization; the public should breathe a sigh of relief that this dangerous criminal is now safely behind bars.”

Tate was already a registered sex offender in North Carolina at the time of the crimes, based on prior convictions in Minnesota for criminal sexual conduct. He had also been convicted in federal court in Minnesota for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor as part of a ring that transported women and girls from Minnesota to Las Vegas for commercial sex. That case earned him 16 months in prison. Tate has been in federal custody since his arrest in November 2015, after CMPD officers found the victim hiding in a hotel room closet during a search for another missing minor. He will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a facility.