A Joliet man was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison last week for sex trafficking multiple women, including at least one minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Kendall Guyton, 29, admitted in a plea agreement that he recruited three women to engage in commercial sex acts from 2017 to 2020. Guyton also admitted to advertising the commercial sex acts online and arranging for the victims to meet people in various locations in the Chicago area. To force his victims to comply, Guyton provided them with illicit drugs, including heroin or cocaine, and often beat his victims, officials said. Guyton’s most aggravating conduct was toward 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 engaged in a romantic relationship before Guyton later assisted the victim with working in the commercial sex industry. Guyton supplied the victim with cocaine and Xanax, fully aware that she was a drug addict who relied on these substances to engage in commercial sex work. According to the memo, he imposed a daily quota on her, mandating a specific number of clients. If she failed to meet this requirement, he would withhold drugs. He also frequently beat her, leaving her with visible injuries including a cut to her eyebrow and bruises on her body. “She described being choked, punched, and thrown around by defendant, and stated she lived in fear of when the next beating would come,” prosecutors said in the memo. The victim was close friends with one of the other girls Guyton trafficked, who he controlled by beating the first victim in front of her, the memo states. At the sentencing hearing Thursday, Sept. 26, officials presented evidence that Guyton facilitated the trafficking of at least five other victims, including a minor, by beating and sexually assaulting them. Last year, Guyton pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. Guyton was assisted 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 whom 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 partake in commercial sex acts from 2017 to 2018, the sentencing memorandum for his case states. While working for Ingram and Guyton, the 14-year-old earned approximately $10,000 and was not allowed to keep the earnings. After Ingram learned the 14-year-old’s age from a poster for a missing child, he continued to post advertisements of her online, take the money she earned from commercial sex work and have sex with her, according to the memo. “Minor A’s psychological scars resulting from having been taught at such an early age that she is worth nothing more than a few hundred dollars for an hour of sex acts is unfathomable,” prosecutors said in the memo. Like the other victims, Ingram controlled the 14-year-old using drugs and threats of harm, officials said. In May, judge Ellis sentenced Ingram to 20 years in federal prison. In the sentencing memo arguing for a 30-year sentence for Guyton, prosecutors said he showed signs that he does not take responsibility for his crimes, and denies raping one of the victims, providing heroin to others and believes the accounts of violence against his victims are overstated. During Guyton’s mitigation interview with a psychologist, prosecutors said his closing line was, “I just want people to know they were always free to go.” “Defendant’s crimes were incredibly serious and had long-lasting impacts on his victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine M. O’Neill and Prashant Kolluri argued in the sentencing memorandum for Guyton’s case. “Defendant knew these women were vulnerable and he preyed upon 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 are 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 logging on to http://www.missingkids.com.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. [email protected]