July 10, 2024 - LOS ANGELES – A Ventura County man was charged on Tuesday in an 11-count federal grand jury indictment alleging that – months after his release from state prison after being convicted of child sex offenses – he produced child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and used online chat programs to entice two minors into prostitution.

Kai Whitney Sommers, 36, of Ventura, is charged with two counts of sex trafficking of minors, two counts of use of a facility of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of production of child pornography, three counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and two counts of commission of a felony offense involving a minor while required to register as a sex offender.

Sommers has been in federal custody since June 26 and is scheduled for arraignment on July 15 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the indictment and a criminal complaint previously filed in this case, in September 2021, Sommers was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of statutory rape and engaging in lewd or lascivious acts with a minor for enticing a minor on an online chat room to make money as a sex worker. Sommers then lured the victim to meet with him and sexually assaulted the victim.

In August 2023, months after being released from state prison for the previous conviction, law enforcement conducted a search inside Sommers’ residence and allegedly found him to be in possession of CSAM. Following the search, officers allegedly found Sommers had chatted online with two minors, intending to persuade them to make money as sex workers.

One of the victims allegedly produced CSAM for Sommers, who used both their images online to advertise them as 18-year-old sex workers. Sommers allegedly impersonated the victims while he communicated with potential adult clients and told the victims that if the clients asked for their age, they had to say “18.” Sommers allegedly coerced one victim to meet twice with adult men and have sex with them for approximately $160 total.

An indictment and a complaint contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, Sommers would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

The FBI and Ventura Police Department are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Derek R. Flores of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.
Source: DOJ Release