PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Dujuan Harris, 35, of Providence, R.I., was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for trafficking a 17-year-old girl from Texas to Rhode Island for the purpose of offering her for commercial sexual activity.
According to prosecutors, Harris befriended the victim on the Internet, and continued to communicate with her via cell phone, text messages, and Skype. Harris admitted to facilitating the victim’s travel to Rhode Island by paying travel expenses to Boston via bus and then drove her to Providence.
Once in Providence, Harris took photographs of the victim in various stages of undress and repeatedly posted them in ads on Backpage.com, offering the victim for commercial sexual activity. An investigation by Providence Police and Homeland Security Investigations determined that the response to the ad was immediate and that numerous sexual encounters with the victim for a fee were arranged.
On June 30, 2015, HSI agents, Providence Police detectives, and members of the Human Trafficking Task Force located the victim in Harris’ apartment in Providence and rescued her. Investigators discovered numerous nude photographs of the 17-year-old victim on Harris’ cell phone.
“The defendant here is a remorseless, recidivist, and manipulative predator who deserves the longest possible sentence,” said United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha. “Every day that he walks the street is a day that children are at risk. His efforts at manipulation here were as transparent as glass, and he fooled no one but himself.
Harris, who had withdrawn a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith. Harris had been found guilty of sex trafficking of a child and possessing child pornography. Since his arrest and detention at the ACI, despite a no-contact order, Harris contacted the victim more than 100 times.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Terrence P. Donnelly and Ly T. Chin. United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha thanks prosecutors from the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General who assisted the United States Attorney’s Office in the prosecution of this matter.
This sentencing will ensure that Dujuan Harris will be unable to harm other juveniles for a long time, said Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of HSI for New England. We will continue to pursue those engaged in commercial sex trafficking with the help of our partners in Providence and beyond.
“The Providence Police Department, along with our federal and local law enforcement partners, will continue to work vigilantly to remove people like Harris from the streets of our city and state,” said Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements. “Subjects who prey on young women for solicitation of sexual activity are a high priority for our investigators, and this sentencing should serve as an example to criminals in the sex trafficking game,” he added.
Related Federal Cases
- Dujuan Harris, Child Sex Trafficking, Rhode Island 2024 · Rhode Island
- Chad Johnson, Sex Trafficking of Children, Texas 2016 · Rhode Island
- Nathan Oliva, Sex Trafficking of a Child, Texas 2016 · Rhode Island
- Deangelo Tate, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Texas 2015 · Rhode Island
- Angela Marks, Sex Trafficking of Children, Texas 2018 · Rhode Island
Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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