Juan Brandon Gray-Sommerville, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, North Carolina 2013

Defendant Found Guilty of Sex Trafficking of a Minor

A federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, handed down a guilty verdict for Juan Brandon Gray-Sommerville, 23, of Charlotte, who was charged with one count of knowingly obtaining, harboring, providing and transporting a minor to engage in prostitution.

According to court documents and testimony presented during the two-day trial, Gray-Sommerville met the minor female through social media in early March 2012. He began exchanging text messages with her, encouraging her to meet him. On March 13, 2012, Gray-Sommerville and his girlfriend travelled to a town outside of Charlotte to pick up the minor in front of her school.

Gray-Sommerville and the minor drove back to Charlotte and checked into a motel. He took pictures of the minor at the motel and created an online advertisement on Backpage.com to recruit clients to engage in sex acts with her. The defendant drove the minor to have sex for money with two clients.

Law enforcement located the minor when they responded to her 9-1-1 call, after Gray-Sommerville abandoned her fearing police detection. An FBI computer forensic examiner found on Gray-Sommerville’s computer the picture of the minor the defendant posted on Backpage.com. Investigators also recovered text messages the defendant had exchanged with the minor using his cell phone.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins stated, “Gray-Sommerville preyed upon a vulnerable young girl and exploited her in the worst possible way. Sex trafficking is a reprehensible crime that dehumanizes victims and strips them of their dignity. My Office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute sex traffickers who profit from prostituting minors.”

Gray-Sommerville faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set yet. The investigation of the case was handled by the FBI assisted by CMPD, and the prosecution is handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani Ford.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/federal-jury-finds-charlotte-man-guilty-sex-trafficking-minor