A Grand Prairie Man Could Face Life in Prison After Sex Trafficking a Teen

"Jane Doe," as the 16-year-old is known in court records, was having family problems, and took to the dating app Tagged to vent.

Howard Sanford Williams, 37, saw the teenager’s live video and offered to help.

On Feb. 28, 2020, Williams checked into an Irving hotel with the teenager. After providing her with drugs and alcohol, he sexually assaulted her, filming and photographing the encounter.

Williams then used the footage and photos from the assault for sex advertisements online. For the next 10 days or so, Williams used the advertisements to contact prospective customers and bring them to the hotel room to sexually assault the teenager.

He now faces life in prison. After a trial that lasted only two days, a Dallas jury convicted Williams of trafficking a minor in North Texas Federal District Court this week.

“This defendant exploited a vulnerable teenager he found online,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. “Far too often, traffickers target struggling women and girls, claiming that they can help."

Shah insisted that authorities "are committed to fighting the scourge of trafficking, and to getting justice for the victims of this horrific crime."

Sex and human trafficking have spiked during the pandemic. Online enticement of minors into sexual exploitation has ballooned at an especially dramatic rate: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that the number of children lured into sex trafficking online ballooned by about 93% during the first four months of the pandemic alone.

Earlier this month, a Dallas man was convicted on charges related to sex trafficking a teenager at the Comfort Inn and Suites off Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas lawmakers have tried to clamp down on human and sex trafficking this year. On Sept. 1, a new law aimed at cutting back on sex trafficking will go into effect in Texas.

The law, backed by Abbott, will make purchasing sex in Texas a state jail felony.

"We know the demand is the driving force behind human trafficking," Texas state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, who authored the bill, told Click2Houston.

Thompson said cracking down on the "the demand end of it," or going after the johns, will better equip authorities to "save the lives of numerous persons."

Still, critics say the law is misguided and will create a more dangerous environment for sex workers.