U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Derwin Samuel Smith, age 43, of Glen Burnie, MD yesterday to 121 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution. Judge Blake also ordered that upon his release from prison, Smith must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
“The victim was rescued thanks to superb work by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
“We hope that this prosecution sends a message to low-life criminals who prostitute children.”
On June 7, 2010, members of the Maryland Human Trafficking task Force recovered a 12-year-old girl, who had been reported missing and was believed to be involved in prostitution, from a motel room in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The child had called a relative from the motel room and investigation revealed that the room was registered to Smith. The child told the officers that Smith had said that he would be back later that evening to have sex with her.
The child was taken to police headquarters and further identified Smith as the person who had picked her up on the street in Washington, D.C., paid for sexual services performed in the backseat of his car, and recruited her to work for him as a prostitute. Smith had then driven the girl to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where at Smith’s direction, men paid to have sex with her over the weekend. The child gave Smith all of the money.
While the child was at police headquarters, officers waited at the motel until Smith arrived. Smith was arrested and police recovered the key to the motel room where the girl was recovered. Smith later admitted picking up the victim in Washington, D.C. on Friday evening, taking her to Atlantic City, New Jersey over the weekend, and purchasing the motel room for her on Monday morning.
The case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Anne Arundel County Police Department, Maryland State Police, and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in this investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel M. Yasser and Tonya Kelly Kowitz, who prosecuted the case.
See the original story behind Smith’s arrest and guilty plea:
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