Crime & Safety

Man Pleads Guilty to Human Trafficking, Sexual Battery

Kenyatta Cornelous, 42, was sentenced to 19 years in jail on charges of human trafficking, sexual battery and prostitution. The case has ties to a Treasure Island home used to lure women.

A man received a 19-year prison sentence this week in connection with a human trafficking case that has ties to a Treasure Island property.

Kenyatta Cornelous, 42, was arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on May 9, 2009 on charges of two counts of deriving proceeds from prostitution, three counts of sexual battery, false imprisonment and three counts of human trafficking. 

This week, Cornelous plead guilty and was sentenced to 19 years in jail, according to the Tampa Bay Times

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Kenyatta Cornelous received a 19-year prison sentence Friday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

At the time of his arrest in 2009, authorities said Cornelous was part of a sex trafficking ring that recruited down-on-their-luck women and wowed them by inviting them to a $600,000 rented home on Treasure Island. Later, the women were forced to dance in strip clubs and prostitute themselves, police said.

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To read the rest of the Times story, click here

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