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Keion Rowell, 24, was convicted by a federal jury in September 2023 on one count of sex trafficking a child, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts.
A judge on Wednesday, Jan. 31, sentenced him to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
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“Mr. Rowell inflicted severe trauma on a vulnerable young life,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said. “Today’s sentence ensures that this dangerous man will be removed from our community for a very long time.”
In 2021, Rowel met the teen after she ran away from home. “Almost immediately,” he created commercial sex ads using nude photos of the minor and told her she would need to prostitute herself.
Rowell then sent the 15-year-old to meet with those men to have sex in exchange for money that he kept for himself, according to prosecutors.
At one point, Rowell punched the girl in the face when she didn’t make enough money, authorities said.
About 10 days after the teen was reported missing, an undercover operation was set to save her.
The girl gave Rowell’s phone to authorities, which had photos of her and Rowell, information about his personal bank accounts, links to online ads for commercial sex, and communications with the buyers.
Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, asked anyone with knowledge of child sex trafficking to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or go online to tips.fbi.gov.
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