TN man pleads guilty for trafficking Memphis child in New Orleans

Published 6:43 am Friday, July 1, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JEREMY TALBERTage 26, from Memphis, Tennessee pleaded guilty on June 29, 2022 to Sex Trafficking of a Minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1591(a)(1), 1591(b)(2), 1594(a), and 2.

According to court documents, TALBERT brought a fourteen-year-old female (“Minor Victim”) from Memphis to New Orleans for the purpose of her engaging in commercial sex acts between October 2020 and December 17, 2020.  During this time, TALBERT was aware of Minor Victim’s age from conversations with her mother.  TALBERT advertised Minor Victim on websites commonly used to advertise sexual services in exchange for money.  TALBERT required Minor Victim to earn approximately $1,000 per day from commercial sex acts and TALBERT kept all or most of the money she earned.

In pleading guilty, TALBERT faces a minimum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment up to life imprisonment.  The defendant also faces supervised release for a term of five years to up to life, up to a $250,000 fine, a requirement that the defendant participate in the sex offender registration and notification program, and a mandatory $100.00 special assessment fee, as to each count. The Honorable Lance Africk set sentencing in this matter for October 5, 2022 at 2 p.m.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Memphis Police Department in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Carboni and Jordan Ginsberg are in charge of the prosecution.