Aaron T. Simmons, 26, of Greenville, South Carolina, was sentenced today to 365 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after he pleaded guilty in November 2023 to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of sex trafficking of a minor.

“This significant prison sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s brutal conduct inflicted on victims, including a minor, for many months” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The sexual exploitation of victims in this manner robs them of their freedom, dignity and sense of security, and stands to scar them for life. Such venal, rapacious conduct is unacceptable in our society. The Justice Department will use all the tools at its disposal to prosecute sex traffickers and to seek justice for the survivors of human trafficking.”

“Our office will continue to bring every resource we have to bear to stop human trafficking in South Carolina,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “Those who victimize human beings, especially children, in this heinous manner will be held accountable.”

According to court documents, the defendant used physical beatings, threats, intimidation, control and psychological manipulation to coerce three adult victims to engage in repeated commercial sex acts in the Greenville area between August 2019 and August 2020. The defendant also provided a 17-year-old minor victim for commercial sex acts in the Greenville area between August 2019 and November 2019. 

The FBI Columbia Field Office and Greenville Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Fisher Sherard for the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney Francisco Zornosa of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.  Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.