Army Sgt. Pleads Guilty to Pimping Teen Girls on Craigslist

The women and men who join the U.S. military promise to serve and protect. But one Army Sergeant broke that promise when he started selling teen girls for sex on Craigslist in Washington state. His story goes to show that all human trafficking around military bases isn't overseas. Some of it is online right here in America.

Sgt. Sterling Terrance Hospedales, who has been based at a fort in Washington State, pled guilty this week to pimping two teenage girls out on Craigslist. Hospedales acted became the pimp for a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old girl, both of whom were reported as missing persons to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to earn some extra cash in addition to his military job. He took naked photos of the girls and posted them on Craigslist, arranging for them to be sold to area men for $150 an hour. He kept all the money the girls earned. Police uncovered threatening text messages he sent to the teens when they were out, telling them he knew where they were, and the girls stated he threatened to beat them up for not bringing home enough money. He was holding one of the teen's birth certificates, and both confirmed he knew them to be underage. The evidence, including victim testimony, was so stacked against Hospedales, he chose to take a guilt plea bargain.

It's appalling to think about American soldiers, and especially military leadership, trafficking children. Often when we talk about issues of U.S. military involvement in prostitution or human trafficking, it's in reference to soldiers stationed on bases overseas, far away from loved ones or in countries with lax protections for women. And then, we often talk about them buying sex with girls and women as opposed to selling it. But rarely do we think about soldiers being involved in the sexual exploitation of minors and profiting from their prostitution here in the U.S. Yet Sgt. Hospedales was able to run, for a least a short time, a criminal business selling sex with teens from his home. And the tool that made it easy for him to sell minors for sex was Craigslist.

So far, over 8,000 of you have told Craigslist that this pattern of teens and other human trafficking victims being sold for prostitution on their site has got to stop. Add your name to the petition and help us get to 10,000 signatures. I hope that if over 10,000 of their users ask Craiglist to make serious reforms to their adult services section, someone at the company will actually sit up and take notice. Sure, Hospedales would have probably been able to force young teens into prostitution without Craigslist's help, but they made it quick, easy, and profitable.

Sgt. Hospedales is currently in the process of being dishonorably discharged from the Army for his crimes. He will be sentenced in October, but faces 10 to 15 years in prison, based on his guilt plea agreement.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army