David Minasian, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Massachusetts 2014

BOSTON – A Malden man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl.

David Minasian, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to 15 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to the victim.

Minasian will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. In May 2014, Minasian pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.

In 2012, Minasian and others photographed the 15-year-old victim wearing revealing lingerie and posing in provocative positions, and then posted these photographs to the adult section of Backpage.com, a site commonly used for advertising commercial sex activity, soliciting customers for ‘escort services.’

Customers who responded to the advertisements were directed to where Minasian was staying with the victim to have sex with her for a fee. Minasian and his co-defendant also transported the victim to motels inside Massachusetts where they paid for rooms to prostitute her.

At the sentencing hearing, the victim’s mother addressed the Court on behalf of the victim, who was not present. The mother explained that Minasian had given the victim heroin and prostituted her once she became addicted. The victim is still battling her addiction.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Child Exploitation Task Force, which is comprised of members from the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, and the Malden and Arlington Police Departments.

It was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Foley on Ortiz’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team.

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