TUCSON, Ariz. — A Tennessee man found guilty of sex trafficking a minor in Arizona has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
Maurice Alexander, Jr., 33, of Memphis was convicted by a jury earlier this year of conspiracy and trafficking charges in connection to his 2021 arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of Arizona.
In October 2021, Tucson police received a 911 call from a 14-year-old girl who reported being the victim of sex trafficking. The teen had run away from home and ended up in Phoenix, when the defendant contacted her through social media about a job opportunity, court records show.
After meeting Alexander, the defendant began having her perform commercial sex acts and forced her to follow rules to keep earning money, records show.
"The level of control Alexander exerted over a highly vulnerable child was tremendous," prosecutors wrote in a court filing. "The victim was not able to eat, sleep, contact friends or family, or stop working as a prostitute unless Alexander first gave her permission."
The defendant trafficked the victim through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado over a two-month period. Alexander additionally required the victim to create sexually-explicit content of herself to use as advertisements on social media, officials said.
At the time of these offenses, Alexander was already required to register as a sex offender. He will be placed on supervised release for life after completing his prison sentence.
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