Underage Sex Trafficker Pleads Guilty: ICYMI

SEEKONK, MA — A Rhode Island man accused of running an underage sex trafficking operation in the Seekonk area has pleaded guilty.

Reginald Chaney, 20, of East Providence, admitted in a Rhode Island court Tuesday to transporting two girls—age 15 and 16, respectively—to Seekonk motels for prostitution. He also admitted to transporting them to locations in the Providence area. He will be sentenced Aug. 10.

"Law enforcement learned that on January 16, 2015, Chaney and two juvenile males conspired to take photographs of the 16 year-old female and a 15 year-old female in various stages of undress, and to post the photographs in advertisements on Backpage.com," reads a statement from the Rhode Island District Attorney's Office. "According to information presented to the court, between January 16 and January 28, 2015, Chaney and the two juvenile males conspired to transport the teenage girls from Chaney’s East Providence residence to locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island for the purpose of offering the girls for prostitution."

One of the juvenile males was sentenced to serve six years in a correctional facility; the other was sentenced to a year and a half.

Adding to Chaney's troubles is a five-year suspended sentence he receive in 2015 on a weapons charge. A judge could decide to make him serve all or part of that sentence, in addition to whatever time he receives on the sex trafficking charges.

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This story was first published May 11, 2016