Joliet man gets 27 years in prison for sex trafficking of multiple victims, including one minor

A Joliet man was sentenced last week to 27 years in prison for sex trafficking multiple women, including at least one minor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Kendall Guyton, 29, admitted in a plea deal that he recruited three women for commercial sex acts between 2017 and 2020.

Guyton also admitted that he promoted the commercial sex acts online and arranged for the victims to meet people at various locations in the Chicago area. To force his victims to comply, Guyton supplied them with illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, and often beat his victims, officials said.

Guyton’s most aggravated conduct involved a victim who died in 2023, according to the sentencing memorandum for his case. The two met at a restaurant where they both worked and had a romantic relationship before Guyton later helped the victim work in the commercial sex industry.

Guyton supplied the victim with cocaine and Xanax, fully aware that she was a drug addict who used these substances to perform commercial sex work. According to the memo, he imposed a daily quota on her, mandating a specific number of customers. If she did not comply, he would withhold drugs.

He also beat her frequently, leaving her with visible injuries, including a cut on her eyebrow and bruises on her body.

“She described being choked, beaten and thrown around by the suspect, and stated that she lived in fear of the next beating,” prosecutors said in the memo.

The victim was close friends with one of the other girls Guyton trafficked, whom he controlled by beating the first victim in front of her, the memo said.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, September 26, officials presented evidence that Guyton facilitated the trafficking of at least five other victims, including a minor, by beating and sexually abusing them.

Last year, Guyton pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.

Guyton was represented by 45-year-old Gregory Ingram of Richton Park, who pleaded guilty to his role in the trafficking of multiple victims, including a 14-year-old he invited to live in his home while he trafficked her.

Ingram met the minor at a gas station when she was homeless and recruited her to engage in commercial sex acts from 2017 to 2018, according to the sentencing memorandum for his case. While working for Ingram and Guyton, the 14-year-old earned about $10,000 and was not allowed to keep the earnings.

After Ingram learned the 14-year-old’s age from a missing child poster, he continued to post ads of her online, take the money she earned from commercial sex work and have sex with her, the memo said.

“Minor A’s psychological scars from being taught at such a young age that she is worth nothing more than a few hundred dollars for an hour of sexual acts is unfathomable,” prosecutors said in the memo.

Like the other victims, Ingram controlled the 14-year-old using drugs and threats, officials said.

In May, Judge Ellis sentenced Ingram to 20 years in prison.

In the sentencing memo calling for a 30-year prison sentence for Guyton, prosecutors say he shows signs of not taking responsibility for his crimes, denies raping any of the victims, providing heroin to others and denying the believes stories of violence against his victims. are exaggerated.

During Guyton’s mitigation interview with a psychologist, prosecutors said his closing line was: “I just want people to know that they were always free to go.”

“Defendant’s crimes were incredibly serious and had long-lasting consequences for his victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine M. O’Neill and Prashant Kolluri argued in the sentencing memorandum for Guyton’s case. “The suspect knew that these women were vulnerable and he took advantage of these vulnerabilities.”

Assisting in the investigation were police departments from Carol Stream, Lisle, Joliet, Richton Park, Downers Grove and the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

If you believe you have been a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678 or by logging onto http://www .missingkids.com. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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