A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for sex trafficking three children for years in Northeast Philadelphia.
Artavius Horne, of Philadelphia, was convicted of three counts of sex trafficking minors by force, fraud or coercion, announced United States Attorney William M. McSwain.
Horne made his living by organizing and operating a sex trafficking venture based in Northeast Philadelphia from 2013 to 2015, and in 2018. He recruited and maintained the children, one of whom was 13 years old, and advertised them on the internet. He also transported them to New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C. and Maryland to engage them in commercial sexual acts.
The victims were kept in apartments throughout Philadelphia, where they were made to engage in commercial sex for Horne’s own benefit.
Horne was convicted of similar offenses in Bucks County in 2017 and was on parole.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
