Pimp Gets 5 Years For Trafficking 12-Year-Old

[Starless]

http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/...8026663610.txt

SEATTLE — A Seattle pimp who turned a 12-year-old girl into a prostitute has been handed a five-year prison term in federal court.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour on Friday cited the victim's age in sentencing Sean Hart to a term that is almost three times longer than federal guidelines.

The girl went missing in 2006 from her home in Elk Grove, Calif.

Court records say the girl was passed from pimp to pimp and ended up in Hart's hands on May 25, 2006.

Coughenour also sentenced Randy Ivey to 30 months in prison for his role in passing the girl on to Hart.

Court records say although Ivey didn't know the girl was 12, he paid for her flight to Seattle knowing that she had been kept in sexual slavery by a California pimp

[justiceforthem]

State's rights were designed to allow states to, well, keep some control over laws. But, in some cases these antiquated rules/laws create serious gaps for criminals.

This case might as well have said, suspect, "kidnapped a girl, raped a girl, prostituted a girl..." and got only five years in jail. What kind of deterrent message does this send pedophiles? Should just have said follow your urges...

Citizens need to take aim at getting laws passed that cover these crimes on the federal level to avoid injustices such as this. This person will be pimping youngsters in about what? 3 years with time served?

Originally Posted by justiceforthem

State's rights were designed to allow states to, well, keep some control over laws. But, in some cases these antiquated rules/laws create serious gaps for criminals.

This case might as well have said, suspect, "kidnapped a girl, raped a girl, prostituted a girl..." and got only five years in jail. What kind of deterrent message does this send pedophiles? Should just have said follow your urges...

Citizens need to take aim at getting laws passed that cover these crimes on the federal level to avoid injustices such as this. This person will be pimping youngsters in about what? 3 years with time served?

well this is kidnapping at a federal level, amongst various other things, the feds have sentencing guidelines, their kidnapping is pretty strong...so this sentence+this crime+the mild sentence=something wrong with the case...agree 12 year old...dont know what could be or what could mitigate but something is not right..likely they could not prove ALL elements of their case thus the case fell to a lower crime...dont know at all

dunno, looks to me like they think the court kicked their butts...states historically have harsher sentencing , longer sentences..something is wrong, maybe this is more acceptable there than in the south...makes no sense to me.

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Last updated May 2, 2008 9:42 p.m. PT
Long sentence for child's pimp

Seattle man gets 5 years in prison for making 12-year-old girl a prostitute

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER
A Seattle pimp who turned a 12-year-old girl into a prostitute received an extraordinary five-year prison term Friday.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour cited the victim's age in sentencing Sean Hart to a term that is almost three times longer than federal guidelines.
The girl went missing in 2006 from her home in Elk Grove, Calif. Passed from pimp to pimp, the girl ended up in Hart's hands May 25, 2006, according to court records.
For 12 days, Hart forced her into prostitution and "coerced her into giving him all her earnings. (She) feared the defendant because he beat her frequently," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake.
In seeking the exceptional sentence, Otake characterized Hart as a man who "caused a 12-year-old girl to believe that her only asset was her ability to have sex with strangers. She now faces a horrific struggle to overcome this belief."
Before sentencing, Hart addressed the court, saying: "I am just ashamed and embarrassed. I'll never do something like this again. I am changing my life."
Coughenour also sentenced Randy Ivey to 30 months in prison for his role in passing the girl on to Hart. That sentence also was an upward departure from sentencing guidelines, which call for a range of 12 to 18 months.
Although Ivey didn't know the girl was 12, he paid for her flight to Seattle knowing that she had been kept in sexual slavery by a California pimp, according to court records. When he met her and realized she was a minor, he turned her over to Hart.
Ivey also apologized Friday. "I am just ashamed that I am part of this whole situation," he said.
Coughenour responded: "This was a 12-year-old child. The manly thing to do would have been to call her mother or call the police."
Otake warned the court that "street-level gang members are leaving the drug trade and engaging in the pimping of women, because the risk of apprehension is less.
Moreover, while a kilo of heroin might offer a drug dealer profits on one occasion, young women offer repeated, never-ending profits.
"A message needs to be sent," she said, "that there is real punishment for the exploitation of women in the prostitution trade."

P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky