A 33-year-old man who prostituted minors throughout the Coachella Valley before being arrested at the border has pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges.
Dewayne Deanthony Williams of Indio entered the guilty plea at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to two counts of inducing minors to work in sex-for-hire operations, lewd acts on a child and procuring a person for the purpose of prostitution.
He’s set to be sentenced June 23 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force launched a seven-week investigation that culminated in an arrest warrant being served on the defendant at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on April 21, 2022.
According to a declaration filed by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, authorities received a report March 4, 2022, of suspected human trafficking involving a 16-year-old girl identified only as “V-1.”
Three days after the report, V-1 said she had sex with Williams when she was 15 years old, so she could use his vehicle, as noted in the declaration. She also said that her 15-year-old friend, identified only as “V-2,” performed a sexual act with the defendant in exchange for fentanyl pills.
Both incidents occurred at the parking lot of The Shops in Palm Desert, based on cell phone and Google information. The incident with V-1 happened Jan. 15, and the incident with V-2 happened prior to that, according to the document.
On March 22,, a third victim, identified only as “V-3,” said that she fell asleep drunk in Williams’ car at an unknown park in Indio. She was 14 years old.
“She said she woke up and saw/felt Williams reaching into her T-shirt from the collar,” according to the declaration. “He touched her on her left breast under her bra.”
On March 30, a fourth victim, identified only as “V-4” said that she met Williams at a party in Indio when she was 16 years old and had sex with him in exchange for marijuana.
According to sheriff’s officials, the defendant compelled girls to perform sexual services in Indio, Desert Hot Springs and Palm Desert.
Williams has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
– City News Service
