A San Pedro “daddy” who allegedly responded to an undercover fake Internet advertisement offering sex with a 13-year-old girl is expected to plead not guilty Wednesday to a federal sex trafficking charge.
Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and other law enforcement agencies posted an online advertisement using coded language in a ruse offering sex with young girls, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
The advertisement used catch words such as “daddy,” “petite” and “young,” federal authorities said.
Joshua Paul Crouch, 28, was arrested last month and charged with attempted sex trafficking of a minor, a felony count punishable by at least 15 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
When Crouch allegedly responded to the advertisement, he was told by an undercover law enforcement agent that one of the girls advertised was “Cassie,” a 13-year-old. Crouch sought to have oral sex with her in exchange for $60, prosecutors said.
The defendant chose “Cassie” instead of a 15-year-old girl who was also offered by the undercover agent, according to federal prosecutors.
Crouch followed the directions provided by the undercover agent and was arrested when he arrived at a hotel room, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. No minors were involved in the operation.
“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and victimizes large numbers of women and children,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This case demonstrates that law enforcement has changed its approach in combating human trafficking, by now focusing on customers and commercial sex traffickers and by treating the women and children as crime victims.”
“This defendant is one of the first individuals charged in Los Angeles under this federal statute, but he will not be the last,” she said.
If convicted, Crouch would face a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years in federal prison.
“Individuals who pay for sex with minors are contributing in no small way to the current epidemic of teen and child sex-trafficking,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. “The coercion of minors into prostitution is unconscionable under any circumstances. We intend to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions, which rob the underage victims in these cases of their youth and their innocence.”
—City News Service