WASHINGTON – A chilling sentence was handed down today as James E. Coleman, a 29-year-old from the District of Columbia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his heinous acts of sex trafficking and exploitation of a child. This sentence comes after Coleman pleaded guilty on May 17, 2022, to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a child, production of child pornography, and first-degree child sexual abuse.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss also imposed a stringent 15 years of supervised release, mandatory registration as a sex offender, and an order for Coleman to pay $25,000 in restitution to his young victim.
According to court documents, Coleman and a co-conspirator targeted a 14-year-old girl from Virginia with the intent to traffic her for commercial sex. Starting June 30, 2020, he took explicit photographs and videos of the minor, using these as leverage to market her on websites advertising commercial sex services.
He dictated the price for her services, collected payments, and instructed her to lie about her age if questioned. The sickening exploitation didn’t stop there; Coleman also recorded himself engaging in sexual acts with his victim.
July 2020 marked a brutal turn when the predator demanded money from his captive. When she refused, he resorted to violence, beating her with a broomstick and assaulting her with a knife. He stripped her, leaving her nude in the hallway of his building.
Coleman’s arrest by U.S. Marshals on October 22, 2020, led to his immediate detention without bond. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Burrell, Meredith Mayer-Dempsey, and Angela Buckner prosecuted the case.
This tragic case was part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, a nationwide effort to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. For more information on this critical initiative, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes|Human Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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