Citrus Heights Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Sex Trafficking
A man convicted of the sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion was sentenced to 19 years in prison and was ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution, U.S. District Attorney Benjamin Wagner said on Friday.
Stephen McKesson, 24, pleaded guilty to the charge in May, where he admitted transporting a 16-year-old female from Sacramento to Redwood City for the purpose of prostitution.
Kyle Reardon, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, said McKesson first convinced the victim to work as a prostitute when she was 14. McKesson and the victim first met when she was 13 and he was 16, and McKesson told the victim that if she loved him, she would prostitute for him, Reardon said.
The victim prostituted for McKesson over five years and gave him all of her earnings, and the two would travel to other cities to solicit prostitution, Reardon said. McKesson also used violence against the victim to coerce her into prostituting for him, Reardon said, and the violence escalated from kicking and beating her in the head to raping and sodomizing her. The victim continued to work for McKesson because he threatened to take her two children from her.
Judge Garland E. Burrell said at sentencing that he took into account that McKesson had victimized underage females for several years and had disregarded the victims’ health and safety by forcing them into prostitution. The sentence, he said, “reflect[ed] the seriousness of the offense… and provided just punishment and deterrence.”
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This is total B.S. 19 yrs for this crime is a bit much he must of had some real crappy representation.what idiot would allow his client to plead to this, what was he facing life,well if so thats what 19yrs is for a young man at this age let a freakin jury decide. something dosent seem right here someone with some know how should investigate this an help this guy out sounds like he was railroaded.
Very interesting.. the attitude of MR. A? I am one that often gets upset at the systems way of prosicuting sex crimes. Much to harsh when children are “making love”. This story describes and individual with no humanity. I am sorry he will be walking the streets in probably less than 10 years. He maybe a young man but his actions clearly show disregard for woman and children. I hope the children have found good loving homes and can leave behind the enviroment they have been exsposed to.
I am being optamistic…
Mr. A, Just what would you consider a “fair” sentence for a man that pleads guilty to sex trafficking because he was pimping 13 year old children (and there was more than one victim) and used of force, rape and sodomy to make them prostitute themselves? Since you consider 19 years too long of a sentence for the 5 years of crimes he committed, just what do you think should have been his sentence? I personally think he got off easy for his crimes.