Denton man who sold teenage girl for sex is sentenced to 15 years behind bars

A Denton man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for selling a teenage girl for sex.

William Adam Jonathan Smith, 31, had been convicted in September of one count of sex trafficking of a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. He was sentenced Monday to 15 years on each count, to be served concurrently, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas said.

According to court records, Smith met the 17-year-old victim in summer 2019 and introduced her to his girlfriend, Charity Cantu, whom he told to groom the girl to become a prostitute.

Cantu and the victim performed commercial sex acts across North Texas for three months, until authorities recovered the girl during a sting operation in October 2019. The two made $5,000 to $6,000 a month, which was deposited in Smith’s bank account via PayPal or the Cash App, court documents say.

Cantu, 26, who testified against Smith, pleaded guilty to a charge of racketeering last year and was sentenced to two years behind bars.

“This sentence sends a clear message to those who seek to victimize children,” acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said in a written statement.  “The Department of Justice will use every tool available to remove predators from the street or internet, and put them behind bars.”