Chicago Man Gets 28 Years For Violent Sex Trafficking, Kidnapping Of Young Girls: U.S. Attorney

CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced last week to 28 years in federal prison for violently sex trafficking five young victims, including a 15-year-old girl, and kidnapping two of them, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

All five of his victims—including the two girls he kidnapped—testified against him at trial.

Prosecutors said Dennis Williams used threats, violence, drugs, and other coercive means to force five victims to engage in commercial sex. Williams often restrained or assaulted the victims to force them to comply and turn over the proceeds to him. He also caused a 17-year-old girl, whom he also assaulted repeatedly, to assist him in trafficking the victims, the U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Illinois said.

Williams ran his sex trafficking operation out of his Chicago residence and motels in Lansing in 2022 and 2023. Last year, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted Williams, 33, on all seven sex trafficking and kidnapping counts against him.

U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland imposed the 28-year prison sentence during a hearing on Feb. 4, in federal court in Chicago.

“Williams’ crimes were violent, exploitative, and incredibly serious,” said Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sushma Raju and Michelle Parthum in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Although the young women and girls that he victimized are now free of defendant’s grasp, the harm that he inflicted on them is likely to reverberate throughout the rest of their lives in the form of increased risk of mental illness and other struggles.”

Prosecutors said police departments in Lansing, Chicago, Evergreen Park, Joliet, Manhattan, Orland Park and Palos Heights assisted, as well as the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, and Illinois Attorney General's Office.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.