A South Bay man has admitted to a heinous tale of manipulation and abuse in the world of sex trafficking. Leslie Anthony Bailey, 33, pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of sex trafficking by force and coercion. His custody has been since March 2024, according to an official statement by the Department of Justice.
Information trickled in from the plea agreement detailing how Bailey exploited a woman's fentanyl addiction. He picked her up from a treatment facility last February, armed with promises of the drug that shackled her to her addiction. After providing fentanyl pills, Bailey coerced her into working as a prostitute in Anaheim, a location already tainted by the scourge of human trafficking. "He expected her to engage in sex acts for money and that she would provide him the money she earned from those acts," the Department of Justice reported.
It was also disclosed that on February 8, Bailey committed an act that underlines the abject cruelty involved in trafficking. He promised to return the victim to the treatment facility, only to betray that promise, taking her to the Angeles National Forest where he assaulted and raped her before leaving her abandoned. In another harrowing revelation, Bailey used social media in March 2023 to recruit another victim into prostitution, whom he controlled through force and threats of force.
This case, which culminates in a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years for Bailey, scheduled for July 18, sheds light on the pervasive evil of sex trafficking. Investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and others, Bailey's case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin N. Spencer of the Orange County Office. After she engaged in prostitution, he even drove her back to his Long Beach residence, further ensnaring her in his web of exploitation and substance dependency.
