Judge Sentences New Castle Man to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking a Child

PITTSBURGH – A former resident of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 180 months imprisonment, followed by seven years supervised release, on a charge of sex trafficking of a child, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.

United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Ronald Kyle Hartman, 28, of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, from August 14, 2016, to August 16, 2016, Hartman knowingly traveled to Ohio from Grove City, Pennsylvania, with a 14-year-old girl for the purposes of sex trafficking. Hartman advertised the juvenile’s prostitution services on backpage.com.

Judge Hornak at sentencing stressed the gravity of the offense and illustrated that if one were to look at offenses as a pyramid, this offense would be at the top of the pyramid.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Grove City Police for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Hartman.

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 United States 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.justice.gov/psc.