A truck driver from Indiana has been sentenced to serve 37 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of probation after a jury convicted him of sex trafficking a minor from Butler County and producing videos of the abuse.

Roderick King III, 33, formerly from Chicago, was sentenced Friday, Dec. 16, in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh after a jury found him guilty of sex trafficking a minor and two counts of production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, all felonies, at the conclusion of a three-day trial in July. The jury deliberated for about an hour before rendering its decision.

U.S. District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand imposed the sentence.

According to information presented at trial and to the court, the girl was 14 years old when King, an over-the-road truck driver, first paid her to have sex in the back of his semi-truck. He initially enticed her by offering to give her cash to “hang out.”

Over a three-year period beginning in 2017, King paid the girl hundreds of dollars in cash for sex on about 10 occasions and produced two videos of the sexual exploitation. In addition to paying the minor, King bought her shoes, clothes and other items that teenage girls want, engaging in what is known as “grooming” behavior. King maintained control over the girl, when he was away from her, by using his social media accounts.

“This defendant will spend the next 37 years in prison for preying upon, exploiting and abusing a vulnerable young girl for his own sexual gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Cindy Chung. “This sentence sends a clear message that predatory crimes, such as child sex trafficking and exploitation offenses, will continue to be vigorously prosecuted by this office.”

Chung further praised the work of local, state and federal law enforcement involved in the investigation, which was initiated by the Butler Township Police Department and was reopened federally, in 2020, by special agents with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations’ Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Group, and special agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office Child Predator section after the girl reported King’s conduct to law enforcement.

Federal investigators were assisted by the Butler Township police, Butler City police, Butler Area School District and Butler County Children and Youth Services.

The charges for which King has been sentenced concern a specific minor. Members of the public who may have additional information about King’s or other perpetrators’ involvement in sex trafficking and child exploitation are encouraged to call Homeland Security Investigations’ tip line at 866-347-2423.