Woman gets 20 years; helped husband recruit teens for prostitution

A Missouri woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for her role in the sex-trafficking a minor from the metro-east.

Don Boyce, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Illinois, said 25-year-old Robin Thompson took part in recruiting girls ages 12-18 with her husband and selling them as prostitutes to older men with her husband, who was a co-defendant in the case. Both defendants are from Park Hills, Mo.

One of the couple’s accusers, a 15-year-old metro-east girl, told investigators last year that she earned approximately $1,000 a day through prostitution for her captors, from about June 9 until July 4.

Thompson and her husband, Marcus Dewayne Thompson, pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit sex-trafficking of a minor and by force, fraud or coercion. She was given a 20-year prison sentence this week as well as 10 years of supervised release following her prison term, a mandatory $100 special assessment and a $1,000 fine.

Marcus Dewayne Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.

The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Both cases were investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Kapsak.

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Woman gets 20 years; helped husband recruit teens for prostitution."