UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. TERRELL BANKER
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Agee, Nov. 14, 2017,
Enticement of a Child into Sex Trafficking – There is no requirement that the defendant know or suspect the actual age of the victim. This is a strict liability element.

Facts:
In 2015, Banker met a 17-year-old female identified as C.O.
C.O. told Banker that she was eighteen, but later admitted that she was not.
Banker supplied drugs to C.O. in exchange for sex.
Soon, Banker encouraged C.O. to start having sex with other people in exchange for money. Banker arranged for C.O. to have sex with a truck driver in exchange for $150.
The three met in a hotel parking lot and the truck driver gave Banker $200. While Banker left to get change, the truck driver had sex with C.O.
Police arrived on scene to investigate suspicious activity in the parking lot.
C.O. and the truck driver were still in the truck waiting for Banker to come back with change. C.O. initially lied to police about what she was doing, but soon started cooperating and told police the story.
Banker never returned to the hotel.
Banker was charged federally for sex trafficking of a minor and was convicted.
Banker appealed, arguing that the government failed to prove that he knew C.O. was a minor at the time.

Held:

Sex Trafficking of Children – It is illegal to knowingly benefit from participation in child sex trafficking with reckless disregard for the fact that the person to be engaged in a commercial sex act is under 18

Enticement of Minors – It is illegal to entice someone under 18 to engage in prostitution. This applies regardless of whether or not the defendant knows the actual age of the victim.

Enticement of Minors – There is no requirement that the defendant know or suspect the actual age of the victim

From the Case: A defendant who lures and encourages young children into these activities does so at his own peril, regardless of what the victim says or how she appears.