Three Charged in Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking of Minors; Alleged Ringleader Directed Scheme from California Prison, DOJ Says
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 16 that an indictment unsealed in the District of Delaware charges three people with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, and coercion, along with related offenses. The defendants are Jamar Geeter, 39, of San Francisco, California; Kalvin Carter Jr., 44, of Waldorf, Maryland; and Jada Hasty, 29, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Geeter and Hasty are also charged with producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to court documents, Geeter is currently serving a 97-year sentence in California for unrelated state sex trafficking convictions. The indictment alleges that he used contraband cell phones while incarcerated to engage in some of the alleged criminal conduct. The defendants allegedly conspired to compel three minors and one adult to engage in commercial sex acts in Delaware and elsewhere. Geeter and Hasty allegedly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained two of the minors, used cell phones and the internet to induce and entice three minors to engage in prostitution, and produced CSAM images of two minor victims. The FBI said its coast-to-coast investigation rescued three children and one woman.
"These three individuals are alleged to have exploited and abused four victims — including three children — for their financial gain," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Human trafficking is a serious crime that strips people of their dignity and safety. Anyone who engages in this heinous conduct will be investigated and prosecuted." U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace for the District of Delaware said trafficking schemes do not stop at state lines and neither does the investigative work. Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of FBI Baltimore said that, according to court documents, Geeter, an already convicted sex trafficker, continued directing abuse from behind bars, with Hasty and Carter as willing accomplices.
All three defendants face a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison on the sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion charges if convicted. Geeter and Hasty face an additional 15 years to life for sex trafficking of a minor and coercion and enticement of a minor. On the CSAM charges, Geeter faces 25 to 50 years in prison and Hasty faces 15 to 30 years.
The FBI's Delaware Violent Crime and Safe Streets Task Force and the Delaware State Police are investigating the case. Trial Attorney Nicole Raspa of the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Claudia Pare for the District of Delaware are prosecuting. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部大楼入口（资料图）。图片来源：Sdkb，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: Entrance of the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters, Washington, D.C. (file photo). Source: Sdkb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
