SAN DIEGO — A Southern California man was sentenced June 6 in federal court to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl who was physically assaulted and ejected from a moving car during an escape attempt.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Probation Department, the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and the California Department of Justice investigated the case.
“This lengthy sentence is a testament of HSI’s commitment to identifying a callous predator and rescuing a child victim from continued abuse,” said HSI San Diego acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Davis. “Along with our partner agencies, HSI will continue to devote resources to combat human trafficking.”
Deondre Demetris Porter, 26, of Victorville, was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2023 with co-defendant Aaliyah White. Porter pleaded guilty in February 2024 to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. The victim had been recruited by Porter just three days prior to the assault, which occurred on Easter Sunday in April 2023.
In that short time span, Porter trafficked the girl, transporting her from Victorville to San Bernardino and then to San Diego. In San Diego, he required her to engage in commercial sex in hotel rooms and walk Roosevelt Avenue in National City to elicit commercial sex buyers. White assisted Porter in monitoring the minor victim’s commercial sex activity.
On April 9, 2023, the San Diego Police Department received a 911 call and reports from witnesses that a girl had been thrown from a vehicle, half-dressed and beaten up. As a result of her injuries, the girl was immediately transported to a hospital, where she was treated and interviewed by officers from the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. The victim immediately identified Porter and White as her attackers and sex traffickers.
The investigation determined that the vehicle in which the victim was beaten and stripped of some of her clothing, and ultimately ejected from, belonged to Porter. Further investigation discovered commercial sex ads posted by Porter advertising the girl as an adult for commercial sex on the websites Private Delights and MegaPersonals. After communicating with commercial sex buyers responding to the advertisements regarding the minor victim, Porter directed the victim to have sex with the buyers in San Diego. Hotel surveillance video also confirmed Porter’s trafficking of the minor victim.
“This child was exploited, assaulted and ejected from a moving car, and yet she still found the courage to speak out against her assailants,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Her bravery, combined with the work of an exceptional team of agents and prosecutors, brought this defendant to justice.”
“The law enforcement community in San Diego remains dedicated to the rescue of sex trafficking survivors, as well as the aggressive prosecution for those responsible for these crimes,” said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit. “This case is the culmination of tireless work by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office. This survivor suffered lifelong damages at the hands of the accused. We must never forget the impact upon the vulnerable in these kinds of cases. The San Diego Police Department will continue to dedicate the necessary resources in our pursuit of justice and public safety.”
White is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10.
HSI is a global leader in the fight against child exploitation. Last year, HSI special agents dedicated 1.2 million case hours toward investigating child exploitation. This heinous crime harms the most vulnerable in our society: our kids. As technology evolves and more people have access to the internet, children are at a greater risk than ever. HSI’s special agents and analysts around the world are dedicated to countering this threat.
Report suspected child exploitation to the HSI tip line at 877-4-HSI-TIP or through the CyberTipline on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Ko and Lyndzie M. Carter.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.