Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that a federal jury yesterday found
LLOYD KIDD, a/k/a “Chris Kidd,” a/k/a “Gerard Agard,” a/k/a “Red,” guilty of
sex trafficking of a minor and enticement of a minor to engage in sexually
explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such
conduct, following a six-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said: “Lloyd Kidd has rightly been convicted of the
shameless and exploitive victimization of an underage girl. Kidd preyed on a particularly vulnerable
victim, recruiting a minor residing at a foster care facility. He now awaits sentencing for his appalling
crimes.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and
evidence presented during the trial in Manhattan federal court:
From at least in or about spring 2015 through at least
February 2017, KIDD engaged in sex trafficking of a minor and enticement of a
minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a
visual depiction of such conduct. The
defendant recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and
maintained a minor victim (“Victim-1”) for the purpose of commercial sex.
The defendant recruited Victim-1 when she was living in a
foster care facility in New York, New York.
The defendant used Backpage.com to post advertisements of Victim-1 for
commercial sex, and then directed Victim-1 to meet customers to engage in
commercial sex out of his apartment in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition, the defendant produced sexually explicit images
and a video recording of Victim-1 performing sexually explicit activities,
which constituted child pornography. The
defendant used at least one of the sexually explicit images of Victim-1 to
advertise her for commercial sex.
This prosecution is part of an ongoing investigation that,
including KIDD, has charged 19 defendants, set forth in eight indictments, for
the sex trafficking of at least 13 minor girls and young adults in New York
State’s social services system.
*
* *
KIDD, 28, of Brooklyn, New York, was convicted of one count
of sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10
years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, and one
count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the
purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, which carries a
mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a statutory maximum sentence of 30
years. The mandatory minimum sentences
and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided for
informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be
determined by the judge.
KIDD will be sentenced by Judge Marrero on November 1, 2019.
Any individuals who believe that they have information that
may be relevant to this investigation should contact the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (“FBI”) at 1-212-384-1000 or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
Mr. Berman thanked the FBI and the New York City Police
Department for their outstanding work in this matter and, in particular, the
New York Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes
Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys
Mollie Bracewell, Elinor Tarlow, Jacob Gutwillig, and Sagar Ravi are in charge
of the prosecution.
No comments:
Post a Comment