A man who used a website to run a pimping and pandering sex operation in which young women worked as prostitutes for drugs and money was sentenced Wednesday to four years in state prison.
Christian Koalani, 67, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy, pandering and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor.
One victim wrote a letter to the court, telling Judge Polly Shamoon that Koalani and his 23-year-old wife, Hannah Koalani, sexually assaulted and victimized her.
Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens said Christian Koalani has prior pandering and other convictions from 1985 and 1997.
Hannah Koalani also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at a later date.
A third person, 68-year-old Dale Vinzant, who ran the website, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year on electronic monitoring.
Acting independently but known to each other, Vinzant and Christian Koalani, used their website, San Diego Adult Services Provider, to post, advertise and profit from paid sex acts, authorities said.
Customers used the online sex marketplace to contact women, negotiate transactions and post reviews, according to police.
Koalani is the author of “Story Of An American Escort,” a novel based on his experiences in the underground sex trade.
When he met Vinzant about 10 years ago, Koalani was running a pimping scheme via his Facebook page and proposed moving it to Vinzant’s website for their mutual benefit, police said.
Christian Koalani and Vinzant were arrested in June following a year- long investigation by the multi-agency San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.
Police said the online prostitution service boasted about 900 members at the time of the suspects’ arrests.
To access the illegal services, members paid fees of roughly $15 a month or $100 per year, according to police.
–City News Service