Altamonte Springs man gets 30 years in teenage sex trafficking bust

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — A 26-year-old Altamonte Springs man will spend the next 30 years in federal prison after he was convicted of forcing a 15-year-old Winter Springs girl into prostitution.

Rowy DeJesus-Vasquez was arrested in June 2015 during an undercover sting at a Motel 6 in Seminole County.

DeJesus and another man, Kwame Johnson, 25, were taken into custody as investigators rescued the teen.

Investigators said the two men took the girl, posted her photo on Backpage.com and for several months forced her to have sex with customers while keeping all the money for themselves.

“For the safety of the community we developed probable cause. We wanted to get them off the streets so they could not exploit any more juveniles,” Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agent David Allmond said at the time of the arrests.

The Backpage ad listed the teenager as the “sexy and sweet girl next door” and said she was 19, investigators said.

Agents said the Winter Springs girl was a runaway.

“Seminole County had been actively investigating this they're very concerned when a 15-year-old is missing. Not only missing, but being exploited on Backpage for prostitution,” Allmond said.

Under mounting pressure, Backpage.com recently removed ads from its escort section.

Cox Media Group