Ferndale Man Sentenced To Prison For Sex Trafficking Children

FERNDALE, MI — A Ferndale man who trafficked and had sex with children in motels throughout metro Detroit was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday, according to federal officials.

Toriano Davis, 34, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months after pleading guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor in February 2023.

Authorities said Davis trafficked at least two minor girls, rented motel rooms for them to engage in commercial sex and assisted them with advertising online for commercial sex dates.

Davis took proceeds from the minors’ commercial sex dates to buy drugs and to rent expensive cars, officials said.

Davis also had sex with the minors and recorded himself having sex with one of the minors on a cellphone, officials said.

"The sexual abuse and trafficking of children is a scourge on our community that leaves an indelible mark on victims," said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison. "The video recording of that abuse only perpetuates the abuse."

Authorities began investigating Davis in late 2020 when they were trying to find two minor girls who ran away from the Lansing area, officials said.

A relative of one of the minors told authorities they feared the minors were being trafficked in metro Detroit, officials said.

Officers found the two minors in a motel room in Southfield in December 2020, officials said.

Officers then located Davis in a motel in Roseville, where he was in the room with a nude 15-year-old girl, officials said.

Davis was also on bond for a federal drug case in 2020 when he was arrested in connection to sex trafficking, officials said.

"This defendant callously sold minors to other men for his own financial benefit," Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office Devin J. Kowalski said. "Combating sex trafficking and violence in our communities is of the highest priority for the FBI and our law enforcement partners across Southeast Michigan."