Houston Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Traffic 13-Year-Old Female into The New Orleans Area to Perform Commercial Sex Acts

According to court documents, GEE met her co-conspirator, Randi Lewis (a/k/a “Teddy,” a/k/a “Teddy P.”), when she was about sixteen years old.  Lewis recruited GEE to engage in commercial sex acts under his direction, and she complied.  Lewis also instituted a series of rules GEE was to follow, including how to behave, what to wear, with whom she was allowed to interact (i.e., look at and speak to), as well as how much she was expected to earn from engaging in daily commercial sex acts. Lewis routinely tracked GEE’s location using a location sharing cellular phone application.  Lewis also regularly engaged in sexual acts with GEE and used violence and threats of violence against her.

Together, Lewis and GEE met the victim, who was thirteen years old, in the Houston, Texas area not later than June 21, 2021.  GEE recruited the victim to perform commercial sex acts under Lewis’ s direction and introduced the victim to Lewis.  Lewis and GEE gave the victim instruction and guidance on matters related to successful performance of commercial sex activities, including ways to behave, what to wear, how to identify and avoid law enforcement, and how to best solicit commercial sex customers.  The victim agreed, and Lewis arranged for he, GEE, and the victim to travel to New Orleans on a Greyhound bus for the purpose of his co-conspirator and the victim to engage in commercial sex acts.  Between June 22, 2021, and June 24, 2021, GEE and the victim performed multiple commercial sex acts in the New Orleans area.  Lewis required the victim to turn over to Lewis most, if not all, of the money she earned from commercial sex acts . 

Acting at Lewis’s direction, GEE and the victim solicited commercial sex “dates” in several ways.  First, they walked along streets soliciting customers.  Additionally, Lewis created and caused to be created advertisements on an online classified ad service, commonly used to advertise sexual services in exchange for money.  Through this online ad service,  Lewis received telephone calls, text messages, and messages via social media applications inquiring about, scheduling, and arranging prostitution dates with his co-conspirator and the victim.  Lewis arranged for sexually explicit pictures of the victim to be used in the advertisements.  GEE and Lewis also gave the victim illicit and mood-altering drugs, including marijuana, to numb her senses, control her behavior, and/or to encourage her to engage in commercial sex acts.  Law enforcement authorities recovered the victim at a hotel in Terrytown, Louisiana, on June 24, 2021.      

Lewis pleaded guilty to his role in trafficking the victim in November 2022 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14, 2023.  GEE faces a maximum of five (5) years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, up to three (3) years of supervised release after imprisonment, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.  GEE may also be required to register as a sex offender and make restitution payments to the victim.  GEE’s sentencing has also been scheduled for June 14, 2023, at 10:30 am before Judge Vance.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section,  Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”