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NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DOMINIQUE PEEPLES, age 25, from Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty on September 28, 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, PEEPLES brought a seventeen-year-old female (“Minor Victim”) from Memphis to New Orleans for the purpose of her engaging in commercial sex acts beginning at a time not known and continuing until in or about mid-January 2021.  During this time, PEEPLES was aware of Minor Victim’s age.  PEEPLES advertised Minor Victim on websites commonly used to advertise sexual services in exchange for money.

In pleading guilty, PEEPLES faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.  The defendant also faces supervised release for a term of five years up to life, a up to $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. The Honorable Sarah S. Vance set sentencing in this matter for January 18, 2023 at 10:30 a.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, Supervisor of the Public Corruption Unit, are in charge of the prosecution.