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Canton man sentenced to 15 years for sex trafficking missing teen
Keion Rowell, 24, was convicted by a federal jury on one count of sex trafficking a child.
A Canton man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for sex trafficking a missing 15-year-old in 2021, authorities announced.
Keion Rowell, 24, was convicted by a federal jury in 2023 on one count of sex trafficking a child, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy. A judge on Wednesday sentenced him to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
Prosecutors said that in 2021, Rowell met the 15-year-old victim, who had recently run away from home, and “almost immediately” created online advertisements for commercial sex using photos of the victim, telling her that she would have to prostitute herself. Rowell was accused of communicating with sex buyers and sending the 15-year-old to the men for sex, pocketing the money, and in one instance punching the girl in the face when she “did not make enough money to satisfy Rowell’s demands,” according to Levy’s office.
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About 10 days after she was reported missing, law enforcement put into place an undercover operation to rescue the teen, according to Levy’s office. When she was rescued, she gave authorities Rowell’s phone which had photos of him and the girl, his bank account information, links to the advertisements for sex, and communications with the buyers.
“Mr. Rowell inflicted severe trauma on a vulnerable young life,” Levy said in a statement. “Today’s sentence ensures that this dangerous man will be removed from our community for a very long time.”
Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, urged anyone with knowledge of child sex trafficking to contact the FBI.
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“The cruelty and inhumanity displayed by Keion Rowell is staggering,” Cohen said. “He forced a child into sexual servitude, unleashing physical and emotional abuse even as he profited from that child’s exploitation. Every day, children are being sexually exploited and traumatized in our area, and across the country.”
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