CHICAGO, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A 32-year-old Chicago pimp has been convicted of operating a sex-trafficking operation in which he forced nine girls, as young as 13, into prostitution.
Datqunn Sawyer faces a possible sentence of life in prison after being convicted by a federal jury of all counts against him. They include 10 charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, coercion, sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors by force, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.
Six victims testified Sawyer had befriended them when they were 12 to 17 years old and some said they fell in love with him.
Sawyer targeted vulnerable young girls, most from troubled backgrounds, promising love but then forcing them into prostitution. He often beat or berated those who refused.
Victims said he beat them with a silver-studded leather belt, pounded their feet with a hammer, hit a girl's head with her high-heeled shoe, drawing blood, and split another's head with a glass ashtray, the Sun-Times said.
Sawyer must spend at least 15 years in prison.
The case prompted the FBI, Chicago police and the Cook County Sheriff's Department to start a task force targeting sex trafficking of minors and determining whether federal law, which can include mandatory minimum prison sentences, applies in sex-trafficking cases.
Two of Sawyer's co-defendants -- Kevin Sharp, 53, and Waymond Orr, 33 -- pleaded guilty before trial.
