David D. Delay, 52, of Lynnwood, Washington, was sentenced
today in a U.S. District Court in Seattle to 33 years in prison for his
predatory and exploitive scheme to recruit young women and teens to
prostitution for his own enrichment, announced Acting Assistant Attorney
General John Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney
Annette L. Hayes of the Western District of Washington, and Special Agent in
Charge Jay S. Tabb, Jr. of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office. Delay was also
ordered to pay $76,700 in restitution to his victims, plus additional costs for
counseling and medical care. Following prison Delay must register as a sex
offender and will be on supervised release for the rest of his life. Because Delay has continued to harass his
victims on social media, the judge requested the prison system and U.S.
Probation limit his access to social media and computers. At today’s sentencing
hearing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said “He deserves a long sentence
and a sentence that sends a message to the community that these crimes will not
be tolerated.”
At the conclusion of a ten-day trial, the jury convicted the
defendant on Nov. 6, 2017, of 17 federal felonies, including one count of
conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; three
counts of sex trafficking; three counts of attempted sex trafficking; one count
of conspiracy to transport individuals for purposes of prostitution; six counts
of transporting individuals for purposes of prostitution; two counts of
production of child pornography; and one count of obstruction of justice.
According to evidence presented in court, including the
testimony of seven victims, the defendant targeted vulnerable teenagers and
young women in their early 20s by claiming to be a famous film producer with a
multi-million dollar contract from HBO to produce a documentary on
prostitution. Delay enticed his victims, several of whom he convinced to travel
across the country to be with him, into working for him as prostitutes by
falsely claiming that they would make up to $20 million by participating in his
documentary. In order to convince the victims that his assertions were true,
Delay sent them falsified bank account screenshots supposedly depicting the
profits of his other films, a photograph of himself outside of an HBO office,
and seemingly official, binding contracts that he asked them to sign that
obligated them to pay him over a thousand dollars per week in prostitution
proceeds. Delay falsely promised some of his victims that he was negotiating
for them to star in a reality television show produced by Ryan Seacrest. Representatives from HBO and Ryan Seacrest
Productions testified that the companies did not have any business dealings
with Delay.
Once the victims arrived in Seattle, the defendant coerced
them into prostituting themselves for his profit. He manipulated them
emotionally, psychologically, and sexually; isolated them; made them completely
dependent on him; and in some instances threatened legal action against them,
falsely claiming that the victims had violated their contracts and were subject
to civil penalties. In furtherance of his sex trafficking scheme, the defendant
also enticed two minor victims to produce graphic pornographic photographs and
videos for him, and in two instances threatened to release sexually explicit
video images of his victims unless they complied with his demands.
“Delay used fraud and fear against vulnerable young women
and girls to coerce them into commercial sex, turning them into sexual
commodities for his own profit,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John
Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to
vigorously pursue sex traffickers and today’s sentence is an example of our
ongoing efforts to hold traffickers accountable for their horrific crimes and
vindicate the rights of their victims.”
“The long prison sentence imposed in this case is just
punishment for the devastating impact this defendant had on his victims,” said
U.S. Attorney Hayes. “As they bravely
testified in court, the defendant’s conduct left his victims with deep and
lasting emotional scars. There simply is no place in civilized society for the
kind of sexual exploitation that this defendant engaged in without so much as a
second thought.”
“The FBI remains committed to working with federal, state
and local partners to combat such egregious criminal activities " said
Special Agent in Charge Jay Tabb, of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office. “In this
case, the FBI worked closely with the Redmond Police Department and the US
Attorney’s Office to get survivors the help they need, and traffickers the
justice they deserve. Given the complexity of Mr. Delay’s criminal schemes, our
team included multiple experts all working as part of the Child Exploitation
Task Force, a unit which continues to identify other victims and predators so
we can disrupt cycles of abuse. ”
“We are proud of the excellent work done by the Redmond
Police in partnership with the FBI,” said Redmond Police Chief K. Wilson. “Our
close working relationship with our law enforcement partners through the FBI taskforce,
allowed us to bring the needed resources to bear to ensure the defendant was
arrested and convicted of his crimes.”
Co-defendant Marysa Comer, 23, of Matthews, North Carolina,
previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 16, 2015, to one count of conspiracy to
commit sex trafficking for her role in Delay’s scheme. She was sentenced to 36
months in prison on Dec. 1, 2017.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Seattle Field Office
and the Redmond Police Department, along with assistance from the FBI’s Chicago
Field Office, the King County Sheriff’s Office, the King County Prosecuting
Attorney's Office, the Beaverton, Oregon Police Department, and the Bureau of
Prisons. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Crisham and
Trial Attorney Matthew Grady of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking
Prosecution Unit.
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