28-year-old man sentenced for sex trafficking teen girl, marking initials on girl's body by tattoo

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston man has been found guilty of trafficking an underage girl, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

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Juwan Davis, 28, trafficked the then-13-year-old for sex in 2018. More importantly, authorities started the investigation of Davis' sex crime in February 2018.

Davis pleaded guilty on March 2.

On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced Davis to 25 years in prison. During the hearing, the court learned of Davis' attempts to manipulate and control the girl even while incarcerated, which included contacting her to persuade her to drop the charges.

Davis was also ordered to serve 15 years on supervised release after completion of his prison term. In fact, he will be ordered to register as a sex offender.

"Tragically, the young victim in this case died just a few months ago at the tender age of 18. Five years ago, when she was only 13, she should have been participating in what normal middle schoolers do - soccer games, school plays and pep rallies," Hamdani said. "Instead, Juwan James Davis sold her body for sex; something a seventh grader should never have to endure. This sentence not only sends a message to others who prey on young children, but also gives this young victim's family a sense of justice. It is just a shame she was not able to be in court to see it for herself."

According to officials, the girl met Davis on Snapchat, where he expressed wanting her to have sex for money. Davis also posted ads of her wearing lingerie to advertise her for commercial sex.

Detectives said that Davis had driven her to the hotels and would wait for her outside until she had completed having sex with the clients. When she was done, the victim would get in touch with Davis, who would get her and take the money.

Officials said that Davis supplied her drugs and had his initials etched on her body to mark her.

When investigators got a search warrant for Davis' phone, they discovered conversations between him and the victim discussing her having commercial sex and how much to charge for it. The victim's photos were on the phone, and some appeared in Backpage advertisements.

Additionally, photos of the seventh grader with Davis' initials tattooed on her buttocks were included.

Davis will remain in custody until he is sent to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.