Tawaan Batten, Sex Trafficking, North Carolina 2024

Convicted Sex Trafficker Sentenced to 34 Years in Prison

A Charlotte man has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for sex trafficking a minor, announced Lawrence J. Cameron, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Tawaan Batten, 34, also known as Slicc, was sentenced to 34 years in prison followed by 30 years of supervised release. In December 2023, Batten was convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking of a minor, and transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in commercial sexual activity.

Batten's co-conspirator, Kristi Heather King, 34, of Locust, N.C., was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a period of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.

According to evidence presented at Batten's trial, witness testimony, and court documents, from July 2021 to December 2021, Batten, at times assisted by King, sex trafficked a 15-year-old minor victim. Batten met the minor victim, who had run away from her home, in a hotel parking lot in Charlotte. Batten then introduced the minor victim to King, who was Batten's girlfriend at the time.

The minor victim began engaging in commercial sex transactions shortly after meeting Batten. Trial evidence showed that Batten, at times assisted by King, created and posted advertisements of the minor victim on commercial sex websites and arranged for the minor victim to engage in sexual encounters with customers, usually multiple times a day.

Batten kept the money the victim earned from these commercial sexual encounters and continued to have the victim work even when she was not feeling well. According to testimony and evidence at Batten's trial, Batten gave the minor victim drugs and controlled the minor victim through intimidation and manipulation, including branding the minor victim with tattoos.

Batten remains in federal custody pending placement to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility. Batten's co-conspirator, Kristi Heather King, is also facing prison time for her role in the crime.

Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron commended the FBI for leading this investigation and thanked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for their invaluable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Spaugh and Daniel Cervantes of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

If you are the victim of human trafficking or may have information about a potential trafficking situation, please call the FBI, local law enforcement, or the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/charlotte-sex-trafficker-and-co-conspirator-are-sentenced-prison