Convicted Arizona sex trafficker sentenced to over 100 years in prison

PHOENIX – An Arizona man convicted of forcing a 16-year-old girl into prostitution was sentenced last week to more than a century behind bars.

Robert Hood, 30, received a 108-year sentence on Dec. 7. A jury had found him guilty on 11 felony counts in September.

The charges included child sex trafficking, conspiracy, money laundering and sexual exploitation of a minor. He faced a sentencing range of 30 to 171 years in prison.

Hood collected the victim’s prostitution money for his own benefit and recorded her in a sexually exploitative manner to maintain control over her, according to a press release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

The victim said she was trafficked by Hood for several months in 2017 and 2018, the release said.

She was rescued from a hotel by the Phoenix Police Department’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit.

Hood previously had been convicted twice, for aggravated assault and possession of drugs, according to the release.

“This type of crime against our most vulnerable can never be tolerated,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said after Hood’s Sept. 23 conviction.

To report an instance of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP to: BeFree (233733).

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