A woman from St. Louis County, Missouri, has admitted in federal court to promoting the prostitution of a minor online.
Carrie Little, 44, pleaded guilty on Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of coercion or enticement of a minor. Her trial was initially scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
According to the plea agreement, Little acknowledged that starting as early as 2018, she recruited women and had others assist in recruiting women for prostitution. Among those recruited was a minor female. Little provided the minor with a place to live and took sexually suggestive or explicit photographs of her with Little’s phone. These photographs were then used in online advertisements for commercial sex.
Little further admitted to handling the phone calls to arrange the sexual encounters and setting the prices. Following these encounters, the payments were made either to Little or directly to the victim, who was required to give the majority of the money to Little.
Little’s sentencing is scheduled for November 26. The charge of coercion or enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and could result in a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Human Trafficking Task Force as part of the FBI St. Louis Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Crisis Aid International and the International Institute of Saint Louis assisted the victims involved in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dianna Edwards and Nathan Chapman are prosecuting the case.
