Rhode Island man sentenced to 2 years for sex trafficking girls

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island man was sentenced in federal court Thursday to two years in prison for sex trafficking two teenaged children.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Warwick (Rhode Island) Police Department and the Seekonk (Massachusetts) Police Department.

Cristian Garcia, 21, of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for sex trafficking children and was also ordered to serve 5 years supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Garcia pleaded guilty on May 13, 2016, to one count of conspiracy to sex trafficking children and one count of sex trafficking children.

A co-defendant in this matter, Mackenzy Scott, 20, of Providence, pleaded guilty on September 20, 2016, to conspiracy to sex trafficking children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2016.

According to court records and information presented to the court, beginning in December 2014, Garcia and Scott conspired to take provocative photographs of a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old girl, and post the photographs in ads on Backpage.com, offering the young teenagers for sex. Numerous individuals responded to the ads. Garcia and Scott either drove or arranged for the teenagers to be driven to various locations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to engage in sex acts in exchange for cash.

Mackenzy Scott was arrested on April 8, 2015, and Cristian Garcia was arrested on March 14, 2016. Both have been detained since their arrests.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.