Atlanta Man Sentenced For Human Trafficking And Production Of Child Pornography

Jackson, Miss - Marco Laquin Rogers, 27, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to forty years in federal prison for human trafficking of a minor child, and thirty years for production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Commissioner Robert C. Haas of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department. Judge David Bramlette III ordered the two sentences to run concurrently for a total of 40 years to serve followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

On September 11, 2013, a jury found Rogers guilty of traveling to Mississippi for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10 years old. He was also found guilty of producing videos of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the child.

The investigation of this case began when the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department received information about a video tape of illegal sexual activities and the production of videos depicting the sexual assault of a child. The Cambridge Police Department contacted the Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”) in Atlanta and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who worked with HSI in Jackson to conduct further investigation. The collaborative efforts of HSI agents and investigators in Cambridge, Atlanta, Memphis and Jackson ultimately led to the identification of the minor child in the videos, who is now safe with her family.

“Today’s sentence brings to a close a horrific chapter in the lives of the victim and her family,” said U.S. Attorney Davis. “While nothing can ever undo the abuse the victim endured, we hope that today’s sentence requiring the defendant to spend forty years in prison restores them with some sense of confidence and trust, and satisfaction that justice has been served,” said U.S. Attorney Davis.
“The horrific abuse inflicted upon a defenseless child in this case is unspeakable, and yet this individual went even further by recording and sharing the evidence of his sexual crimes,” said HSI
New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. "Predators destroy lives, and HSI will continue to do everything it can to protect children by investigating and seeking prosecution wherever these criminals may be found." Parmer oversees a five-state region including Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.

U.S. Attorney Davis praised the hard work of Homeland Security Investigations, the Cambridge Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glenda Haynes and Scott Gilbert who prosecuted the case for the government.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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