New Britain Man Sentenced to Nearly 26 Years for Trafficking Teen Girls

A New Britain man has been sentenced to more than 25 years in prison for forcing two teenagers into prostitution.  As WNPR's Lucy Nalpathanchil reports, 31-year-old Jarell Sanderson was prosecuted under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

U.S District Judge Mark Kravitz sentenced Sanderson to 310 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release for the sex trafficking of two 14-year-old girls.

Prosecutors say Sanderson and co-defendant Hassanah Delia recruited the two girls to work as prostitutes in July of 2009. The teens were runaways from a state Department of Children and Families shelter.

According to court documents, Sanderson advertised the girls on a website while Delia set up appointments for the girls. Prosecutors say Sanderson threatened to kill the teens if they resisted.

Law enforcement officials say trafficking of American girls is increasing. In an earlier interview on WNPR, Assistant U.S Attorney Krishna Patel said it's a growing problem in the U.S because criminals realize it's more lucrative than other crimes.

"Unfortunately as I've heard you sell a gun once or you sell drugs once. But I've heard pimps say you can sell a girl every single day over and over again."

In January, Sanderson pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and two counts of sex trafficking of minors. Co-defendant, Delia also pled guilty to two counts and will be sentenced later this month.

for WNPR, I'm Lucy Nalpathanchil