Crime & Safety

Former County Health Counselor Sentenced For Sex Postings

Justin Everett Crutchfield was employed as a Peer Health Counselor with the Santa Clara County Department of Mental Health when arrested.

SAN JOSE- Federal prosecutors say two San Jose residents were each sentenced to approximately five years in prison Thursday for posting information about a minor under the age of 16 on the Internet in order to solicit prostitution customers.

28-year-old Justin Everett Crutchfield was sentenced to 57 months in prison and 24-year-old Demontae Terrell Toliver was sentenced to 60 months for their roles in posting information about the minor online for the purpose of making her available for prostitution. A sentence of 60 months’ imprisonment is the maximum sentence allowed by the statute of conviction, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District.

At the time of his arrest, Crutchfield was employed as a Peer Health Counselor with the Santa Clara County Department of Mental Health.

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Crutchfield and Toliver, both of San Jose, pleaded guilty in July 2015 to charges of using the internet to post information about a minor for sexual activity.

Authorities say that in the defendants’ plea agreements, Crutchfield and Toliver admitted that in June 2013, they posted a telephone number and sexually suggestive photographs of the minor on the now-shuttered Internet site myRedbook.com.

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The posting was made with the intent to solicit others to pay to engage in sexual activity with the minor.

Crutchfield and Toliver were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2014. They were charged with two counts of sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of production of child pornography.

In a plea agreement, both Crutchfield and Toliver pleaded guilty to a single count of use of an interstate wire to transmit information about a minor for criminal sexual activity.

Each defendant was given a 7-year period of supervised release and ordered to pay $2000 in restitution to their minor victims. Both men also will be required to register as sex offenders under federal and state law.

Toliver, who has been in custody since his arrest in February 2014, will begin serving the sentence immediately, according to the release. Crutchfield, who had been released to home confinement on $150,000 bond, was ordered to self-surrender on or before March 17, 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amie Rooney prosecuted the case with the assistance of Laurie Worthen. The prosecution is the result of a joint investigation by the San Jose Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force and the FBI.

Anyone who suspects instances of human trafficking is encouraged to call the FBI or the Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Anonymous calls are welcome.

In addition, suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

-image via ShutterStock

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