Nov 13, 2024
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in a human trafficking case a week after his accomplice. Kirk Depoister, 49, faces six years in prison after making a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to promotion of human sex trafficking and child exploitation. He and Stephanie Followell, 41, were first charged in September 2022 with promotion of human sexual trafficking and possession of child pornography. The pair had allegedly coerced two teenage boys into having sex on camera, according to court documents in the case. Initial information from Fort Wayne Police indicated Depoister threatened one teen with a baseball bat. The couple fled Allen County following a search warrant at their house on Oliver Street. In June of this year, they were caught in Mexico. The two were initially held in a Texas jail and eventually booked in Allen County. Followell pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to sexual misconduct with a minor and promotion of human sex trafficking. The deal with prosecutors calls for her to be handed six years in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 25. If the judge accepts Depoister's plea deal at his Dec. 2 sentencing, his time behind bars would mirror Followell's. He would be sentenced to 10 years with four of those years suspended for trafficking, and three years for exploitation. He would be handed a concurrent sentence, meaning the time for both charges would be served at the same time, bringing the total time in prison to just six years. He would then be on probation for four years.
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