Ferndale Man Sentenced to Over 15 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Childre

DETROIT – A Ferndale man who trafficked and had sex with children in metro-Detroit motels while on bond from a federal drug case in North Dakota was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Devin J. Kowalski, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division.

Toriano Davis, 34, pled guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor in February 2023. Davis was sentenced today by United States District Judge Stephen J. Murphy, III.

Law enforcement first began investigating Davis while attempting to locate two minor females who had run away from the Lansing area in late 2020. A relative of one of the minors contacted law enforcement with information and expressed fears that the minors were being trafficked in the Detroit area. Law enforcement recovered the minors from a motel room in Southfield, Michigan, in December 2020. After subsequent investigation, law enforcement located Davis in a motel in Roseville, Michigan. In the room with Davis was a nude 15-year-old girl. Additional investigation uncovered that Davis had trafficked at least two minor victims, had rented motel rooms for them to engage in commercial sex, and had assisted them with advertising online for commercial sex dates. Davis also took proceeds from the minors’ commercial sex dates for his own use, including to purchase drugs and to rent expensive cars. Davis also had sex with the minors and had recorded himself having sex with one of the minors on a cellular phone.

“The sexual abuse and trafficking of children is a scourge on our community that leaves an indelible mark on victims,” said U.S. Attorney Ison. “The video recording of that abuse only perpetuates the abuse. This defendant committed these heinous acts while on bond in a federal drug case. The lengthy sentence imposed today will protect the public from this defendant and help keep our community safe for children.”

“This defendant callously sold minors to other men for his own financial benefit,” said Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “Combating sex trafficking and violence in our communities is of the highest priority for the FBI and our law enforcement partners across Southeast Michigan.”

This case was investigated by the FBI Detroit Division, SEMTEC (Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes), the Detroit Police Department and State of Michigan Children’s Protective Services.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Sweeney Bean and Eaton Brown.