Kalamazoo, Michigan, Man Charged With Multiple Counts Of Sex Trafficking And Interstate Transportation For Prostitution

WASHINGTON – David Q. Givhan, 34, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was charged by grand jury indictment, unsealed late yesterday, with multiple counts of sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr. of the Western District of Kentucky.

Givhan was arrested on May 18, 2015, and appeared before Magistrate Judge Colin H. Lindsay of the Western District of Kentucky on May 19, 2016.  Givhan is charged with three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution and two counts of sex trafficking an adult by force, fraud or coercion.

According to the indictment, the alleged criminal acts occurred between October 2014 and May 2015, and involved three women over the age of 18.  The three women were transported by Givhan from Michigan to Kentucky to engage in prostitution.

The indictment also alleges that Givhan recruited and transported two of the women, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that means of force, threats of force, fraud and coercion, would be used to cause them to engage in commercial sex acts.        

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  If convicted, his maximum sentence for the interstate transportation for prostitution charges is 10 years in prison.  For the sex trafficking charges, his maximum sentence is life in prison.         

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky, Division and Louisville Metro Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory of the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney William Nolan of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.