Attorney General’s Office prosecuting its first sex trafficking case under tougher law

By Bethany Barnes

Published Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 | 3:39 p.m.

Updated Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 | 4:39 p.m.

The state Attorney General’s Office announced it is prosecuting its first sex trafficking case since a bill toughening those laws took effect.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said today that a Clark County grand jury indicted a man accused of luring a 16-year-old Utah girl into a life of prostitution in Las Vegas.

Ian Lloyd, 32, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, sex trafficking, living with a prostitute and child abuse and neglect.

The child abuse and neglect charge stems from accusations that his 3-year-old daughter rode in a vehicle while it was being used to prostitute the 16-year-old girl, officials said.

The new law ups the penalty for sex trafficking to put it on the same level as the state’s sexual assault laws, disallows probation for people convicted of sex trafficking, allows courts to order those convicted to pay restitution to victims and requires a person convicted of sex trafficking register as a Tier 1 sex offender, among other provisions.

The case is the result of an investigation by the Metro Police Child Exploitation Task Force.

“This is another example of state and local law enforcement combining skills and resources to keep our community safe,” Metro spokesman Bill Cassell said in a news release. “The sexual exploitation and trafficking of children is among the most heinous of crimes. It will be the continued focus of all law enforcement.”

Masto championed the bill while it was working its way through the Legislature.

The law went into effect in July.

In the news release about the indictment, Masto said her office will use every law enforcement tool available to prosecute sex trafficking cases to the fullest extent of the law.