Stockton woman convicted of sex trafficking 15-year-old Modesto girl, two others
A Stockton woman was convicted by a jury Aug. 17 on federal charges of sex trafficking a 15-year old Modesto girl and two other minors.
Dawniel Santangelo, 43, and co-defendant Lucious James Roy, 34, both of Stockton, were found with the girl in a motel room in Medford, Oregon, in May 2019. The girl, who’d been reported as a runaway, had contacted her parents in Modesto, who alerted authorities in Oregon.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Santangelo and Roy drove the victim from Merced to Medford in order to traffic her. Santangelo advertised the victim’s commercial sex acts on the internet and harbored her in a motel room for several days before her arrest.
In addition to the Modesto victim, Santangelo and Roy also trafficked a 17-year-old girl Roy recruited outside a high school and a 16-year-old girl he found on social media, authorities said.
The crimes took place between from September 2018 and May 2019.
“Santangelo enticed the girls to perform sex acts for strangers by providing alcohol, drugs, and creating a party atmosphere in motels in Stockton and Salinas,” according to the press release. “She then posted online ... ads depicting the victims and brought sex buyers to the motels to have sex with the victims in exchange for money that she and ... Roy took from the victims.”
Santangelo also trafficked the 17-year-old victim at a Ripon truck stop.
Following a seven-day trial that concluded Tuesday, the jury found Santangelo guilty of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a child, three counts of sex trafficking of a child, and one count of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Roy was sentenced in April to 17 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a child.
Santangelo is scheduled for sentencing by Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on Nov. 8, 2021. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Her convictions for sex trafficking of a child and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity each carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
