Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a federal jury yesterday found LLOYD KIDD, a/k/a “Chris Kidd,” a/k/a “Gerard Agard,” a/k/a “Red,” guilty of sex trafficking of a minor and enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, following a six-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said: “Lloyd Kidd has rightly been convicted of the shameless and exploitive victimization of an underage girl. Kidd preyed on a particularly vulnerable victim, recruiting a minor residing at a foster care facility. He now awaits sentencing for his appalling crimes.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and evidence presented during the trial in Manhattan federal court:
From at least in or about spring 2015 through at least February 2017, KIDD engaged in sex trafficking of a minor and enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. The defendant recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained a minor victim (“Victim-1”) for the purpose of commercial sex.
The defendant recruited Victim-1 when she was living in a foster care facility in New York, New York. The defendant used Backpage.com to post advertisements of Victim-1 for commercial sex, and then directed Victim-1 to meet customers to engage in commercial sex out of his apartment in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition, the defendant produced sexually explicit images and a video recording of Victim-1 performing sexually explicit activities, which constituted child pornography. The defendant used at least one of the sexually explicit images of Victim-1 to advertise her for commercial sex.
This prosecution is part of an ongoing investigation that, including KIDD, has charged 19 defendants, set forth in eight indictments, for the sex trafficking of at least 13 minor girls and young adults in New York State’s social services system.
KIDD, 28, of Brooklyn, New York, was convicted of one count of sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years. The mandatory minimum sentences and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
KIDD will be sentenced by Judge Marrero on November 1, 2019.
Any individuals who believe that they have information that may be relevant to this investigation should contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) at 1-212-384-1000 or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
Mr. Berman thanked the FBI and the New York City Police Department for their outstanding work in this matter and, in particular, the New York Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
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