Washington man indicted in Baltimore child sex trafficking case

Federal prosecutors in Maryland indicted Lorenzo Turner, 43, of Washington, D.C., on child sex trafficking charges that could send him to prison for life. The indictment charges him with two counts of sex trafficking a minor and two counts of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in prostitution.

Homeland Security Investigations Maryland led the case with assistance from the Baltimore City Police Department. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said investigators found Turner recruited and transported two children to engage in commercial sex acts, placing Baltimore police at the center of a case that stretched beyond the city into the larger regional trafficking corridor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland described Turner as a recidivist sex offender, a detail that adds a sharp public-safety dimension to the prosecution. Federal officials said the indictment involves two minor victims, and the charges were filed in the District of Maryland, where prosecutors routinely handle trafficking cases that cross jurisdictional lines.

The allegations tie Baltimore directly to a trafficking investigation that also involved Washington. Federal authorities have said the conduct involved minors and commercial sex acts, the kind of exploitation that often requires coordinated work between city police, federal investigators and prosecutors to track movement, identify victims and build a case strong enough for federal court.

Turner now faces one of the most serious charges federal law allows in this kind of case. If convicted, he faces life in prison.