A Denton man has been convicted of child sex trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Following a day-long trial, a federal jury last night returned a guilty verdict against William Adam Jonathan Smith, convicting him of one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and one count of sex trafficking of a minor.
According to evidence presented at court, Mr. Smith met and befriended the 17 year-old victim in the summer of 2019. He introduced her to Charity Cantu, his longtime girlfriend, who worked for him as a prostitute. Mr. Smith told Ms. Cantu that she was to groom and train the victim too make money for him providing commercial sex services.
From August thru October 2019, the victim accompanied Ms. Cantu to hotels in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas and engaged in commercial sex acts. All of the proceeds from the commercial sex acts performed by the victim were given to Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith, 31, now faces up to life in federal prison. His sentencing is set for Jan. 8, 2021 before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth.
Ms. Cantu, 25, pleaded guilty in March to a racketeering charge. In court documents, she admitted that although she knew the victim was a minor, Ms. Cantu groomed the girl for commercial sex and posted ads for her sexual services online. Ms. Cantu testified at Mr. Smith’s trial and is slated to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Sept. 24, 2019.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Denton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Doug Allen and Brandie Wade tried the case.
