Moreno Valley woman accused of sex-trafficking could face 12 years in prison

A Moreno Valley woman who put a 14-year-old runaway girl to work as a prostitute is slated to be sentenced Friday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Kayla Corithian Jackson, 19, was arrested in 2013 and charged with five sex trafficking-related felonies for operating a sex-for-money operation.

However, during a March 20 hearing, a plea deal was reached under which Jackson agreed to admit to charges of conspiracy and false imprisonment in exchange for prosecutors dropping the remaining counts.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez is expected to certify the plea agreement today.

He could sentence the defendant to a maximum 12 years behind bars.

Prosecutors allege that, at Jackson’s direction, the victim provided sexual services for men who responded to an ad posted on social networking websites.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the girl, whose identity was not released, left her Moreno Valley home in late February 2013 without telling her mother where she was going or with whom.

When the youth failed to return, her mother suspected she might be with Jackson. The teenager and defendant had associated for an “undetermined period of time,” Supervising Deputy District Attorney Gerald Fineman told City News Service.

He said the victim’s mother reported her daughter missing on March 1, 2013, leading to an investigation by the county’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.

Investigators checked websites where ads for escorts are posted and came upon a mobile phone number belonging to the girl, according to sheriff’s investigators.

Deputies working undercover made several calls and were able to determine where the teen was, at a motel at the intersection of Alessandro Boulevard and Graham Street, culminating in Jackson’s arrest at the location.

The girl, who had been there about a day, was found unharmed, Fineman said.

According to investigators, Jackson’s phone records indicated she had been engaged in illicit sexual activity prior to her arrest.

Court records show Jackson has a prior misdemeanor conviction for shoplifting.

She has been free on $85,000 bail.