{"id":3011,"date":"2026-07-08T19:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:08:22","slug":"charlotte-federal-jury-finds-man-guilty-of-sex-trafficking-16-year-old-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3011","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte federal jury finds man guilty of sex trafficking 16-year-old girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 42-year-old man from Spencer was found guilty of sex trafficking a minor in federal court on Wednesday in Charlotte, according to a U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A jury convicted Marvin Qualls of conspiracy to sex traffic a minor and sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl who ran away from home between December 2023 and January 2024, the news release said.<\/p>\n

Another man, Out Ekong, 22, was Qualls\u2019 co-defendant and pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office said Qualls met the girl at work and began trafficking her with Ekong while knowing she was a minor.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn trafficking the victim, the two men posted advertisements of the minor on commercial sex websites, set prices and arranged the minor victim\u2019s sexual encounters with customers, booked hotels rooms where the encounters took place, and acted as security while the victim engaged in commercial sex transactions,\u201d the news release said.<\/p>\n

Qualls and Ekong traveled with the girl across the Carolinas, keeping the money people paid for sexual encounters with the teen.<\/p>\n

Both are in federal custody awaiting sentencing. Sex trafficking a minor carries a minimum sentence of 10 years. That, as well as conspiracy to sex traffic a minor, could result in a life sentence, the news release said.<\/p>\n

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A federal jury in Charlotte convicted a Spencer, NC, man of sex trafficking a 16-year-old who ran away, with co-defendant pleading guilty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nCharlotte federal jury finds man guilty of sex trafficking 16-year-old girl - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3011\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charlotte federal jury finds man guilty of sex trafficking 16-year-old girl - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A federal jury in Charlotte convicted a Spencer, NC, man of sex trafficking a 16-year-old who ran away, with co-defendant pleading guilty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3011\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T19:08:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"headline\":\"Charlotte federal jury finds man guilty of sex trafficking 16-year-old girl\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T19:08:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011\"},\"wordCount\":266,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011\",\"name\":\"Charlotte federal jury finds man guilty of sex trafficking 16-year-old girl - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T19:08:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dbe691609d05fbc6dbaa5c440b54a93\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/?p=3011#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/charlotterelocationguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/72a40939abe1c0c5d225e8ad75717207.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":673,\"caption\":\"Project: Charles R. 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