Man sentenced to 40 years for trafficking minors in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars for prostitution and human trafficking involving minors.

Kenwaniee Tate was soliciting two 16-year-olds as prostitutes in Charlotte using Backpage.com, according to federal investigators.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers arrested Tate in February 2015 after going undercover to a hotel near Pineville where they found the victim and later Tate hiding in bushes near that hotel.

Tate told authorities he knew the victims had been prostituting, and said since she was going to do it anyway, he might as well help her, according to a federal indictment.

Documents also revealed when that victim tried to leave Tate, he told her he loved her and promised she would not have to work as a prostitute if she came back to him.

That was a lie and the victim was forced to keep working as a prostitute when she returned.

U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose said she hopes this sends a message to other sex traffickers.

"We're willing to pull all our resources together to make a case like this because they are difficult," Westmoreland Rose said.

Tate's record of sex offenses dates back nearly 20 years.

He has convictions in Minnesota from a 1998 offense and a sex trafficking of a minor conviction in 2008, among a long list of other convictions.

Cox Media Group