CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to sex trafficking charges involving a 15-year-old girl.
William McBeth, 39, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of transporting an individual with the intent that the individual would engage in prostitution.
McBeth admitted that she took the girl several times to homes and hotels in Chicago, the suburbs and Wisconsin to have sex with others for money in December 2015, when she was 15 years old.
According to his plea agreement, McBeth admitted to giving the girl drugs and alcohol and buying her makeup, new clothes and condoms to keep her working as a prostitute.
In their sentencing recommendation, prosecutors said the girl was living in an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services group home at the time and met McBeth while out one night with a friend, who introduced him to her as “Tony.”
After meeting the girl, McBeth offered her cocaine, gave her alcohol and marijuana, and then drove her to a house, where he convinced her to have sex with a man for money.
The next morning, the girl asked McBeth to take her home because she didn’t want to miss a trip to see her sisters at an ice skating rink, but instead he took her to a department store to get her makeup done, and then took her to another house to have sex with two different men for money, giving her only $50 of what he was paid.
After finally taking her home, McGee and his girlfriend picked her up again the next day, after she became angry about missing her time with her sisters, and became frustrated and upset about life in the group home.
Over the next few days, the girl had sex with several men – and occasionally with McGee’s girlfriend – and gave him all the money she had paid. According to prosecutors, some of McGee’s underwear turned violent on the girl, but he and his girlfriend did nothing to help her. Instead, in at least one instance, McGee’s girlfriend held her down and forced her to have sex with a “creepy” stranger.
According to court documents, during the time she was with McGee, she had sex with six or seven men a day.
Prosecutors said the girl wanted to earn money to buy winter coats and Christmas presents for her sisters, but McBeth kept most of the money from prostitution for herself, including using $2,000 of the money as a down payment on a new Lexus.
On Christmas Eve 2015, after nearly a week of forcing her to have sex for money, McGee took the girl back to the DCFS group’s home, “giving her just over $100 and leaving her with a lifetime of emotional scars left,” prosecutors said. their sentencing advice, which requested a
Prosecutors had sought an 18-year prison sentence, but on Thursday U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama sentenced McBeth to 12 years. McBeth must also pay nearly $67,000 in restitution to his victim.
