A man arrested in San Diego amid a nationwide sex trafficking sting for recruiting a 15-year-old girl to have her engage in prostitution was sentenced Friday to just over four years in prison.
Prosecutors said Wesley Allen Neely posted online advertisements featuring the girl and in August of 2022, dropped the minor off at a local hotel, where she had arranged to meet up with someone who would pay her for sex.
That supposed customer turned out to be an undercover law enforcement agent and investigators later searched the teen’s phone and found messages between her and Neely, in which Neely told her to send him photographs of herself so he could post advertisements, prosecutors said.
Neely, who was 19 at the time, was arrested at the scene. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of children and was sentenced Friday to 50 months in prison.
His arrest was one of several made during a trafficking sting dubbed “Operation Cross Country,” which was conducted in the summer of 2022 by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies.
Officials said the sting led to the rescues of more than 200 sex trafficking victims, including 84 minors. According to the FBI’s San Diego office, at least 17 victims were located in the region, one of whom was underage.
Nationwide, the average age of victims located during the operation was 15.5, while the youngest victim was 11 years old, according to the FBI.
–City News Service