SANTA ANA (CNS) — A North Hills woman pleaded guilty in a Santa Ana federal courtroom to sex trafficking a 12- to 13-year-old girl while working as a prostitute in Los Angeles, activity that was photographed and widely circulated online in child pornography rings.
Letha Montemayor Tucker signed a plea deal on with federal prosecutors Oct. 1 and officially entered her guilty plea Oct. 20 before U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney. The plea agreement calls for Tucker to receive six years in prison when she is sentenced Jan. 9, 2015.
A drug-addicted Tucker, who used the nickname “Butterfly,” was working as a prostitute in a Los Angeles motel in 2000-2001 when she met the girl, who was also residing at the inn, according to the plea agreement. Tucker knew how young the girl was but they still “shared crack cocaine … and they would often smoke together,” according to the plea deal.
Tucker would bring men who solicited her for prostitution to her room while the girl was there, and the “johns would engage in sexual activity with the victim, in exchange for money paid to defendant,” according to the plea deal.
At least twice, Tucker lined up men to have sex with the victim, prosecutors said. Tucker and the victim were typically high on drugs when they engaged in the prostitution, according to prosecutors.
According to the plea deal, one unidentified man took photographs of the girl engaged in sex acts with the defendant and the man and, “Unbeknownst to defendant, these images were later posted on the Internet with John Doe’s face blacked out, but with defendant and victim’s faces left unredacted. These photos have subsequently been widely traded by individuals who collect child pornography, and been seized by law enforcement from computers outside the state of California.”
Other terms of the plea bargain include sex offender registration for the defendant. She must also enroll in a psychiatric program, submit to regular drug tests, refrain from possession pornography, keep at least 100 feet away from areas where children congregate like playgrounds, and she cannot have any contact with children without a parent’s knowledge of her crime and approval. Her computer usage will be monitored by probation officers.
Tucker’s arrest in January of last year came shortly after authorities asked for the public’s help identifying the people seen in the pornographic photos — known in law enforcement circles as the “Jen series.”