Antonio Vernell Porter, Sex Trafficking, Oregon 2009

A Portland pimp has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a sex trafficking case involving two minor victims. Antonio Vernell Porter, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon on multiple counts of sex trafficking a minor.

According to court documents, Porter’s criminal conduct took place in 2009 and continued into early 2010. Initially charged as a single-victim case in December 2012, law enforcement located a second victim while the initial case was pending. The government filed a superseding indictment in 2014 to add this second victim and two additional counts of sex trafficking.

The second victim disclosed that she began working for Porter when she was just 15 years old, and that she did so because Porter threatened to harm her family if she did not work for him. She performed dozens of commercial sex acts over several months in Oregon, California, Nevada, and Washington.

In August 2009, officers responded to a report that Porter allegedly struck the victim on the head with a toddler bike and then cut her hand with a knife. Three months later, in November 2009, the police again responded to a report that Porter had beaten the victim when she refused to "go work" (engage in commercial sex acts).

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, led by two task force detectives from the Portland Police Bureau. The FBI-sponsored CETF partners with local law enforcement agencies to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the area. Partners include the Portland Police Bureau, Tigard Police Department, Beaverton Police Department, and Vancouver Police Department, who work closely with prosecutors from both the U.S. Attorney’s office and Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah K. Bolstad. Porter pled guilty to one of three counts in October 2014 and will serve 12 years in prison, followed by ten years of supervised release. The case highlights the ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking and protect vulnerable victims in the community.

The community can take comfort in knowing that justice has been served in this case. However, it also underscores the need for continued vigilance and cooperation among law enforcement agencies to prevent such crimes from occurring in the future.

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