A Houston man who met underage girls online, promised to make them models but then forced them into prostitution has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors say 22-year-old Tevon Harris was sentenced Thursday in Houston. Harris in April pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking children under age 18 for commercial sex.
Investigators say Harris in 2012 lured minor girls into meeting him by claiming he could help them get modeling jobs. Investigators say Harris would instead pick up the girls, take them to motels, force them to have sex with him and then he would take away their cellphones.
Prosecutors say some girls were beaten, provided with drugs or denied food while with Harris, who advertised their prostitution services online.
Harris kept all of the money.
