Compton man sentenced to prison for trafficking and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl

A 26-year-old Compton man was sentenced Monday to more than 13 years in prison for trafficking and sexually abusing a teenage girl.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. said he wanted to levy a harsher prison term on Darrius Marques Sutton. But the judge noted that Sutton already had been sentenced to four years in state prison in a separate pimping case, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors said Sutton raped a 15-year-old girl and recorded himself and other men assaulting her.

He pleaded guilty in June to a felony count of trafficking a child. In his plea agreement, Sutton admitted to raping and filming the girl so that he could determine what price he would charge for her in the illegal sex trade.

Sutton posted images of the girl and other victims in dozens of prostitution ads on a website, according to court papers.

“This defendant’s conduct was horrific and warranted the lengthy sentence imposed by the court today,” U.S. Atty. Eileen Decker said Monday. “His callous behavior and willingness to sell the bodies of his young victims for his own financial gain is abhorrent.”

Sutton and three other men were indicted in August 2015 by a federal grand jury. The original indictment alleged the men exploited the 15-year-old girl in order to produce child pornography.

Two of the other three men in the case pleaded guilty this year. The fourth defendant, Leprinceton Burks, 32, is scheduled to go on trial in March.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.

ALSO

Fresno babysitter, man found unconscious in car with bottles of vodka — and a baby in the backseat

LAPD will not help deport immigrants under Trump, chief says

Lobster diver found dead near Manhattan Beach Pier