A Triangle, Virginia man was sentenced today to 180 months in federal prison for multiple sex trafficking offenses.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.

Christian Don’Tae Hood, 25, was convicted by a federal jury in August 2017 of sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. On the first day of trial, Hood’s co-defendant Abdul Bangura, 20, pleaded guilty to, among other offenses, sex trafficking of a minor and production of child pornography.

According to the evidence presented at trial and other court documents, Hood and Bangura met the 15-year-old victim while she was living with her aunt at the Econolodge in Dumfries, Virginia. The defendants, working together, recruited the minor into their prostitution scheme and began to advertise her on Backpage.com. The minor victim was transported to multiple motels throughout Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland for commercial sex acts. After customers paid money to sexually exploit the minor victim, the defendants collected a portion of the money. Defendant Bangura also produced a video of child pornography involving the minor victim.

The FBI WFO’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, Prince William County Police and Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Cain of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.