Chicago man sentenced to 24 years for sex trafficking children

CHICAGO - A Chicago man was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for sex trafficking four children online.

Daryl S. Arnold, 48, recruited four children to engage in sex acts for money, using websites such as Backpage to find customers. Arnold kept half the proceeds from the commercial sex acts.

Arnold pleaded guilty last year to four counts of sex trafficking a minor. He was ordered by a U.S. district judge to pay $136,700 in restitution to the victims. Arnold's court sentence will be followed by 10 years of court-supervised release.

Arnold was arrested as part of Operation Cross Country XI, a nationwide effort to stop underage human trafficking.

"Defendant’s tactic of grooming minors is extremely dangerous because of the ease with which it can be implemented," Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Mulaney said in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  "He ‘sold the dream’ with a false promise of independence and love."