Wilmington man sentenced to 13.5 years in federal prison for sex trafficking minor

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A federal judge has sentenced a Wilmington man to 13½ years in federal prison for luring a minor into sex trafficking and producing child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, 73-year-old Jesse Lonzo Teal pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Prosecutors said Teal used the internet to recruit women, including a minor, to perform commercial sex acts at his Wilmington residence. Authorities said he targeted vulnerable victims, including those struggling with addiction and at least one person with low intellectual functioning.

Teal used drugs and alcohol to manipulate victims and then bullied and belittled them. Investigators said he recorded hundreds of images and videos of women in sexually explicit poses and engaged in sexual activity with them, sometimes without their knowledge or consent.

Prosecutors said Teal also offered to sell the minor’s body for commercial sex, paid her to engage in sex with him and others, and produced child sexual abuse material involving the victim.

Teal was charged as part of a larger investigation into Cape Fear Escorts, which authorities said operated as a front for prostitution and human trafficking for more than a decade. Last year, a federal judge sentenced the operation’s owner, Christopher Todd Evans, to 25 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $200,630.18 in restitution.

“This will not stand. We will not tolerate disgusting creeps who take advantage of our young girls and vulnerable women. This dirty old man can think about his terrible choices in a federal prison until his mid 80s,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle.