Stockton Woman Convicted Of Child Sex Trafficking
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A jury this week found a Stockton woman guilty of sex trafficking children, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Dawniel Santangelo, 43, was convicted Tuesday of three counts of child sex trafficking, conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking and one count of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Between September 2018 and May 2019, Santangelo recruited underage girls to work as prostitutes throughout Northern California and Southern Oregon, prosecutors said. Santangelo provided alcohol, drugs and created a party atmosphere motels in Stockton and Salinas to the girls so they would perform sex acts for strangers.
The victims ultimately had sex with customers in motel rooms and on the streets, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Santangelo posted prostitution ads of the victims online and brought customers to the motels to have sex for money she and 34-year-old co-defendant Lucious James Roy, of Stockton, took from the girls.
Santangelo and Roy recruited a 15-year-old runaway from Modesto to work as a prostitute. They took the girl to Santangelo's former home of Medford, Oregon to have her work there. Once there, prosecutors said Santangelo posted ads of the girl online and rented a motel room where the sexual acts were to be performed.
The girl called her family for help after a few days and Oregon police later located Santangelo, Roy and the girl in Santangelo's motel room, where the pair was arrested.
Roy was sentenced on April 12 to 17 years and seven months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking.
Santangelo is scheduled to be sentenced on November 8. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and $250,000 in fines.
