Human Trafficker Convicted

BATON ROUGE, LA – U.S. Attorney J. Walter Green of the Middle District of Louisiana, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent-in-Charge Jeffrey S. Sallet of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Orleans Division announced that a Baton Rouge woman pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a minor.

Kellie M. Dominique, 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick of the Middle District of Louisiana.  The sentencing hearing will be set at a later date. 

In connection with her plea, Dominique admitted that from June 2013 until September 2013, she conspired with others to promote the prostitution of a minor female out of Dominique’s home and other venues.  Dominique also admitted that she facilitated the minor female’s use of Backpage.com to post classified advertisements for commercial sex acts in Louisiana and elsewhere.  Dominique further admitted that she provided the minor female with illegal drugs and used such drugs with the minor female.  Finally, when authorities began to investigate her illegal conduct, Dominique made false statements to government officials and corruptly influenced potential witnesses.

Four others have been convicted in related federal cases in the Middle District of Louisiana, including Jeremie Tate, age 34, of Zachary, Louisiana, who was sentenced to serve one hundred fifteen (115) months in prison for operating an interstate prostitution enterprise.

U.S. Attorney Green stated: “Unfortunately this case illustrates, once again, how human trafficking is a very real problem facing us right here in the Middle District of Louisiana.  Our office is strongly committed to continuing our work with our federal, state, and local partners to aggressively pursue this very real and very serious issue, both through federal prosecutions and our leadership on the Middle District of Louisiana Human Trafficking Task Force.”  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Louisiana, the FBI’s New Orleans Division, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case, with assistance from the Baton Rouge Police Department – Narcotics, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and other law enforcement agencies.  Trial Attorney Reginald E. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie A. Flowers Jr. of the Middle District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.