NC women planned to prostitute girl they said was 19, feds say. She was 12.
A woman accused of trafficking a 12-year-old-girl who overdosed at a Raleigh motel was sentenced in federal court last week to 18 years in prison.
Brieania Shidae Pinnock, 23, of Raleigh pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sex traffic a minor and production of child pornography Aug. 15, according to a release from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Daniel P. Bubar.
Pinnock’s crimes were discovered June 23, 2022, when police were called to a motel on New Bern Avenue for a suspected overdose, the release stated.
Officers discovered the overdose victim was a 12-year-old girl who had been reported missing earlier that day.
She was revived and taken to the hospital, but investigators discovered Pinnock and an accomplice had posted nude photos of the child online a week before, advertising her for sex and claiming she was 19, according to the release.
That accomplice, Trinity Sky Alston, 24, of Goldsboro will be sentenced next month. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion of a minor, sex trafficking of children age 13 years old or younger and aiding and abetting on March 13, 2024, the release said.
Pinnock and Alston knew the child was 12 and messaged back and forth about their plans to traffic her, officials said. Investigators also discovered “numerous” child pornography photos on Pinnock’s phone, including photos of the 12-year-old taken at Alston’s home June 16, 2022, and posted online, the release said.
Pinnock was sentenced Friday. After serving her sentence, she’ll be on supervised release for 10 years, court records show.
Pinnock was also ordered to forfeit the iPhone seized by authorities as evidence.
