He pimped out a 16-year-old runaway; now he’s facing time behind bars

After deliberating about two hours over two days, a Houston County jury found a man guilty Wednesday of pimping out a 16-year-old runaway at two Warner Robins motels last summer.

Akeem Taylor, 23, of Warner Robins, was convicted of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, pimping out a minor for the purpose of prostitution, and sexual exploitation of children.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday before Superior Court Judge Edward D. Lukemire, who presided over the trial.

The sentencing range is 10 to 20 years for the trafficking conviction, 10 to 30 years for the pimping conviction and five to 20 years for the exploitation conviction.

Jurors deliberated for just over an hour late Tuesday afternoon and about an hour Wednesday morning before reaching the verdict.

Taylor hung his head as Lukemire read the verdict aloud in the courtroom. His mother, who was sitting behind him, cried.

On Tuesday, Taylor took the stand, denying the allegations against him.

Taylor was accused of harboring a 16-year-old girl, who had run away from her Warner Robins home, and pimping her out for a day each in August at the Days Inn and Baymont Inn, both on Watson Boulevard.

He also was accused of placing an ad on a website, with a photo of the teenager, that listed prices for various sex acts with her. The ad included a video of the teen engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The video was played in court for jurors during the trial, which began Monday afternoon.

The jury foreman and another juror leaving the courthouse after the verdict declined comment. Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody and Carl Veline, Taylor’s Warner Robins attorney, declined comment pending sentencing.

During closing arguments Tuesday, Woody said that Taylor took advantage of the teenager’s situation in life and advertized her on a website like a piece of meat.

“And then having men, nasty, perverted men, show up at the hotel, and do stuff to a 16-year-old girl that a 16-year-old girl shouldn’t even know about,” Woody said.

The girl, now 17, testified that Taylor contacted her about performing sexual acts for money, and she agreed. She said they split the money.

But Taylor testified that he was only trying to help out the girl after she contacted him and told him that she was stranded and that her parents had kicked her out of their home. He said he never pimped her out but allowed her to stay at the rooms he rented for himself.

He said that she lied and told him she was 19 and that he did not know that she was 16 then, though he’d known her for four or five years.

The girl’s mother received an anonymous text about the website ad and contacted police, who found the girl at the Baymont Inn, the girl’s stepfather testified.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 12:45 PM with the headline "He pimped out a 16-year-old runaway; now he’s facing time behind bars."