In July 2025 Yusef Reynolds, 34, was sentenced to 27 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for sex trafficking a minor by force, fraud, or coercion, in Charlotte, NC.
Reynolds was already on supervised release for a prior federal sex trafficking conviction in Delaware when he met and lured the underage female victim.
Reynolds forced her to engage in commercial sex. He lured the victim through social media and exploited her for his own profit.
In years prior Reynolds was convicted of federal charges for sex trafficking a minor and illegal possession of firearms in Delaware and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Reynolds was released in 2021 and was placed under federal supervision. Court records show that, from December 2021 through January 2022, while on federal supervised release, Reynolds sex trafficked a 16-year-old runaway from Massachusetts he met online.
According to court documents, Reynolds used Facebook to contact the minor, who at the time was in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Using promises of a better life to lure the victim, Reynolds convinced her to join him even though he knew the victim was underage.
Filed court documents show that Reynolds sent two other individuals to pick up the minor victim and bring her to Delaware. Once there, Reynolds immediately began to sex traffic the minor.
Reynolds took pictures of the minor and posted them on a website advertising for commercial sex. After that, Reynolds booked commercial sex appointments for the victim and took all the money the victim earned from the sexual encounters.
During that time, Reynolds used a combination of physical and sexual violence, threats, and verbal abuse to force the victim to engage in commercial sex acts and plied the victim with drugs to further coerce her to continue to engage in the commercial sex trade.
On March 29, 2024, Reynolds pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, or coercion.
