Dujuan Harris, 35, of Providence, R.I., is headed to federal prison for 20 years after being sentenced for trafficking a 17-year-old girl from Texas to Rhode Island and pimping her out through online ads. U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith handed down the sentence following years of legal maneuvering, including Harris’s failed attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.
Harris admitted he lured the teenage victim through online conversations over Skype, text messages, and phone calls. In June 2015, he paid for her bus ticket to Boston and drove her to Providence, where he immediately began exploiting her. He photographed her in various stages of undress and posted the images on Backpage.com, soliciting buyers for paid sexual encounters.
Investigators from the Providence Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) moved in on June 30, 2015, raiding Harris’s apartment and rescuing the girl. On his cell phone, they found a cache of nude photos of the minor. The response to the online ads had been swift, with multiple johns already arranging paid sex acts with the victim.
Despite pleading guilty in December 2015, Harris later tried to retract his admission. He filed a motion on June 3, 2016, to withdraw the plea, claiming dissatisfaction with his attorney—efforts the government opposed. At a hearing in April 2016, he expressed regret, but ultimately dropped the motion, sealing his fate.
U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha didn’t mince words: “The defendant here is a remorseless, recidivist, and manipulative predator who deserves the longest possible sentence. Every day that he walks the street is a day that children are at risk.” HSI Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. Etre added that the sentence removes a serial abuser from the streets and underscores federal-local cooperation in trafficking cases.
Even behind bars at the ACI, Harris showed no restraint—violating a court-ordered no-contact directive by reaching out to the victim more than 100 times. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Terrence P. Donnelly and Ly T. Chin, with support from the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office. Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements vowed continued crackdowns: “This sentencing should serve as an example to criminals in the sex trafficking game.”
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Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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