“MOTOR CITY MINK” CONVICTED OF INTERNET CHILD PROSTITUTION
Defendant Faces Up to Life Imprisonment

A Detroit man who ran a nationwide Internet child prostitution network was convicted following a five-day trial in federal court today, Acting United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced today. Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit field office.

The jury deliberated for approximately 2 hours before finding Robert C. Daniels, a/k/a "Motor City Mink," 28, of Detroit guilty on all eight counts with which he was charged. The trial was held before United States District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff. The most serious charge, running a child exploitation enterprise, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life imprisonment.

“The United States Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to making defendants answer for crimes that exploit and abuse young women and girls," Berg said. "These are not victimless crimes and we will work tirelessly to ensure that those who use the Internet to facilitate sex trafficking of children will be brought to justice. Society has no place for those who prey on children.”

"We remain dedicated to protecting children and putting unrelenting pressure on these criminal groups," Arena said.

In the course of operating the prostitution network, witnesses testified that Daniels and his co-defendant, Stephanie Head, a/k/a Chocolate, took sexually explicit photographs of minors and uploaded these photographs to cragislist.org and other Internet sites on which prostitution services were advertised. Between February 2005 and March 2008, more than 2,800 advertisements for prostitution were posted by Daniels. Over the same time period, Daniels transported minor and adult prostitutes to Washington, D.C., College Park, Maryland, Indianapolis, Chicago, and New York.

Locally, Daniels rented hotel rooms in Southfield – at the Red Roof Inn, 27660 Northwestern Highway – and in Farmington Hills – at the Motel Six, Ten Mile and Grand River. At these locations, Daniels provided rooms for minors and adults to perform sex acts for money.

This is the first conviction nationwide for running a child exploitation enterprise, a new criminal statute created by Congress in 2006 as part of the Adam Walsh Act. Daniels will be sentenced on January 27, 2009.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leonid Feller and John N. O’Brien II.