A Tennessee man has been handed a 22-year prison sentence for his role in a sex trafficking conspiracy, where a minor was forced into commercial sex acts in New Orleans. Charles Cunigan, 31, received his sentence earlier this month on January 14 after being convicted of the charges related to the exploitation of a 17-year-old victim, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana announced.
Cunigan, alongside his girlfriend Latesha Gardner, also 31, coerced the young girl to perform sex acts for money, which Cunigan intended to use to purchase a vehicle, court documents state they used physical force, withheld food and made threats of violence to ensure compliance by the minor who was also pistol whipped by Cunigan when she did not meet the daily earnings threshold set by him, money from those coerced transactions never went to the victim but was kept by Cunigan with the abuse and oppression ensuring the young girl's obedience.
During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Jay C. Zainey also ordered Cunigan to a lifetime of supervised release after his prison term and mandated that he pays restitution totaling $48,750 to the victim and register as a sex offender; Gardner, his co-defendant, received a 5-year prison sentence back in September of 2024 for her part in the conspiracy.
The case falls under the scope of Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ program aimed at fighting child exploitation and abuse launched in 2006, this case was investigated with the combined efforts of Homeland Security Investigations and the Orlando Metropolitan Bureau of Investigations and the prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Maria M. Carboni and Trial Attorney Melissa E. Bücher who specialize in Money Laundering and Asset Recovery cases among others; the announcement of Cunigan's sentencing was made by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible.
