Florida Woman Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of a Minor

 RALEIGH, N.C. – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that today in federal court, Chief United States District Judge Terrence Boyle sentenced Sydney Crandon, age 24, of Orlando, Florida to 133 months imprisonment followed by a term of 5 years supervised release. 

Crandon was named in an Indictment filed July 31, 2019 for Sex Trafficking of a Minor.  On July 23, 2020 she entered a plea of guilty to that charge.

In June, 2017 Crandon reached out to a minor child, age 14, and encouraged the child to join Crandon in engaging in prostitution in the Raleigh area.  Crandon sent an uber to the child’s residence to take the child to a local hotel.  Once at the hotel, Crandon photographed the child in the hotel room for her online prostitution advertisement.  Crandon set up multiple clients for the child to meet to engage in sexual activities.  Over two days Crandon prostituted the child from two different hotels in Raleigh.

“The key word in this announcement is ‘child,’ stated Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  “This defendant enticed, lured, and sexually exploited a ‘child,’ one of our most vulnerable citizens and one of our most valuable resources.  She stole the child’s innocence, sacrificed her future and risked her life for gratification and profit.  And we are gratified by the Court’s sentence and the strong message it sends to the defendant and others who would do the same thing to other children among us.”

This investigation was conducted by the Raleigh Police Department, the Durham Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Erin Blondel and Charity Wilson represented the government.

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.  For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:19-cr-00296-BO.