Memphis Woman Pleads Guilty to Advertising a Minor for Commercial Sex

Jackson, Miss. – A Memphis woman pled guilty to advertising a minor for commercial sex, announced U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.    

Autumn Brooke Julian, 22, pled guilty on February 13, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Jackson.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Julian used the internet to promote prostitution by posting advertisements depicting a minor on the website MegaPersonals.  Julian’s co-defendant, Wayne Settles, previously pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor and interstate sex trafficking. He was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison, followed by ten years of supervised release.

Julian will be sentenced on May 16, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, and Richland Police Department investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Purdie is 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 the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.projectsafechildhood.gov.