DETROIT (WWJ) – A Ferndale man who pleaded guilty to trafficking and having sex with minors in Metro Detroit motels has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison.
Toriano Davis, who pleaded guilty back in February to two counts of sex trafficking a minor, was sentenced to 15 months and eight months, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison announced Tuesday.
The attorney's office says Davis, 34, committed the crimes while out on bond from a federal drug case out of North Dakota.
Authorities first began investigating Davis while trying to find two underage girls who had run away from the Lansing area in 2020.
One of the girls' family members contacted police and expressed fears that the minors were being trafficked in the Detroit area, according to Ison's office.
The girls were recovered from a motel room in Southfield in December 2020.
Investigators were then led to another motel in Roseville, where they found Davis in the room with a nude 15-year-old girl, according to Ison's office.
Additional investigation uncovered that Davis had trafficked at least two minor victims, had rented motel rooms for them to engage in commercial sex, and had assisted them with advertising online for commercial sex dates, officials said.
He also allegedly took proceeds from the minors' commercial sex dates for his personal use. Authorities allege Davis used that money on drugs and expensive car rentals.
"The sexual abuse and trafficking of children is a scourge on our community that leaves an indelible mark on victims," Ison said, per a press release "The video recording of that abuse only perpetuates the abuse. This defendant committed these heinous acts while on bond in a federal drug case. The lengthy sentence imposed today will protect the public from this defendant and help keep our community safe for children."
Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office, said Davis "callously sold" girls to other men for his own financial benefit.
