Jury convicts Galveston pimp on charges of sex trafficking of minors

GALVESTON, TX (KTRK) -- A Galveston man could spend life in prison for pimping out young sex trafficking victims.

Jurors on Thursday returned a guilty verdict against 39-year-old Charles Devan Fulton Sr.

Prosecutors said Fulton was the leader of a sex trafficking ring and made the orders to post pictures of the minors in two prostitution ads online; he kept the money the children earned, had sex with them and fed them drugs.

Fulton tried to convince jurors that police were just out to get him, but prosecutors had testimony from at least one of the other people involved in the ring and the victims.

It took the jury just four hours of deliberation to convict Fulton on a charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and four counts of sex trafficking of minors.

The three other people involved in the ring -- Charmell Latonya Potts, 31, Dominique Warner, 23, and Lawrence James Julian, 22 -- have already pleaded guilty in the case.

Fulton will remain in custody until his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled in October. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

The FBI and the Galveston Police Department investigated with the assistance of the Galveston County District Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherri Zack and Julie Searle prosecuted the case.