Woman who drove teen to Wichita to have sex for money gets prison time

A woman who took a runaway teenage girl from Lawrence to Wichita to have sex with men for money was ordered last week to serve 51 months in prison.

LaDeisha Brown, 21, of Wichita, pleaded guilty in January to attempted aggravated human trafficking and two counts of commercial sexual exploitation of a child, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. District Judge Terry Pullman handed down her sentence Thursday, according to court records.

The District Attorney’s Office said the 15-year-old girl at the center of the case told law enforcement she rode with Brown and a 26-year-old man, Jaquett Dunbar, to Wichita on Feb. 8, 2016, after she ran away from a Lawrence group home.

Dunbar, of Wichita, received 71 months in prison last October for his role.

A man accused of paying to have sex with the girl at a downtown Wichita hotel is scheduled for trial March 27. Jay A. McLaughlin is charged with one count of human trafficking, two counts of commercial sexual exploitation of a child and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, according to court records.

The District Attorney’s Office had asked the judge to sentence Brown to 71 months in prison. But Pullman opted for a shorter sentence because of Brown’s age and her lack of criminal history and because she spent her childhood in foster care.

Her defense attorney also argued Brown was acting under Dunbar’s influence, according to court records.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Woman who drove teen to Wichita to have sex for money gets prison time."