March 23, 2026 – FRESNO, CA – A federal grand jury returned an indictment on Thursday, against Kenyin McGee, 
27, of Oakland, charging him with sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion for compelling a 17-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, in late 2020, McGee met and recruited the minor victim online. In early 2021, McGee bought the victim a bus ticket so she could travel to Oakland, where he lived. When she arrived, McGee took her shopping and brought her to a motel where he posted photographs of her on a website used to sell and purchase commercial sex. Afterward, McGee had sex with the victim, telling her he wanted to test “the product,” even though he acknowledged she was a minor. McGee then drove the victim to International Boulevard in Oakland, an area known for commercial sex activity, and instructed her to have sex with men for money. When the victim followed his instructions, McGee seized her earnings and kept all the proceeds of her commercial sex acts for himself. Additionally, McGee sent the victim threatening text messages. In several of the messages, McGee threatened to “shoot” or “kill” the victim.
McGee also took the victim to San Francisco, where he again trafficked her. The victim ultimately escaped when an officer with the San Francisco Police Department encountered her on the street and connected her with local human trafficking service providers.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are investigating the case. Trial Attorney Leah Branch of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa for the Eastern District of California are prosecuting the case.
If convicted, McGee faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and mandatory minimum penalties of 15 years in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and 10 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Department of Justice’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
Source: DOJ Release
