(NewsNation) — A federal jury this week convicted a Florida man of sex trafficking nearly a dozen girls and women, whom prosecutors say he threatened, abused and required to have sex with other men and himself.
Shannima Yuantrell Session faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison on 13 charges for sex trafficking. The 47-year-old from Lake Placid, Florida, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19.
The convictions stem from allegations that Session made women engage in commercial sex acts between July 2011 and July 2013, and then from February 2016 to February 2019, according to a Justice Department news release.
Prosecutors said Session offered empty promises of legitimate work and housing assistance to people who were struggling with unstable living conditions. At times, he prevented them from eating if they didn’t obey his demands. He also often required them to engage in sex acts with him after making them perform commercial sex acts with as many as 18 men.
Prosecutors additionally presented evidence at trial alleging Session beat and choked the women, held their heads underwater in a nearby lake and threatened to drown them, and used a firearm to threaten and control the women.
“The defendant used despicable and horrific means to terrify and coerce nearly a dozen women and girls to engage in commercial sex,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to protecting vulnerable victims from such cruel exploitation.”
