A suburban Chicago woman will spend the next 20 years behind bars for her role in the sex trafficking of a minor. Jamari Hodge, 29, hailing from Calumet City, was sentenced after a guilty plea for enticing a 13-year-old girl into performing commercial sex acts, the Department of Justice reported yesterday.

Hodge, who was nabbed after recruiting the child back in November 2021, not only set up the sexual encounters after posting salacious photos of the victim online but also collected the cash from punters following the paid rendezvous. Located at various hotels in Illinois and Indiana, these rooms became the unhallowed ground for the abuse to unfold, the Department of Justice's announcement detailed.

U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold delivered the sentence on Wednesday, inflicting not just a two-decade stint in prison upon Hodge but also ordering her to fork over $180,000 to the victim. This hefty price in restitution underscores the gravity of the offense and the prolonged impact such crimes have on the young lives snared by traffickers.

Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual expressed the sentence's significance in combating the trafficking network, with the FBI's Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., nodding to the toils of local law enforcement in bringing Hodge to justice. The collaboration between the Lansing, Calumet City, and Richton Park police departments was pivotal in securing the conviction. For those trapped in similar plights, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stands as a beacon of help, reachable at www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678, any time, any day, according to the Department of Justice's release.