Woman gets 17.5 years in prison for sex trafficking of children

The federal court on Friday slapped a 17.5-year prison term against Annette Nakatsukasa Basa for sex trafficking of children.

At a daylong sentencing, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered the 36-year-old Basa to be placed on five years of supervised release after she completes her prison term.

Basa was given credit for time served. During her probation, she will be required to pay $9,102.39 in restitution, $100 special assessment fee, and perform 500 hours of community service.

Manglona also ordered Basa to undergo a mental health assessment and complete any treatment while in the federal prison custody.

Basa is prohibited from using controlled drugs or alcohol during her probation. She must also register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act program.

Basa pleaded guilty in February to a count charging her with sex trafficking of children.

According to the plea agreement that Basa and her court-appointed counsel Steven Pixley entered with the U.S. government, Basa recruited, enticed, and harbored a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts from April 1, 2013, to July 16, 2013.

Using a cell phone, Basa arranged meetings with adult men and the girl, and then drove the girl to meeting sites for the purpose of having her have sex with those men.

Basa gave the girl condoms for those meetings. In exchange, Basa received money or methamphetamine or “ice” from the men.

The indictment charged Basa and former firefighter Richard S. Benavente of engaging in sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of two minors.

An FBI special agent alleged that Benavente took videos of himself having sex with two 15-year-old girls. Basa allegedly offered the girls to Benavente in exchange for “ice” and an unspecified amount of money.

Benavente has already pleaded guilty.

In Basa’s sentencing memorandum, Pixley claimed that the defendant was sexually abused by some police officers when she was young. He said this abuse left Basa with a variety of psychological problems.

Pixley retained Dr. Laura L. Post, a psychiatrist, to evaluate Basa. He said a review of the report and other evidence support a finding that Basa has significant reduced mental capacity.

The lawyer said Basa’s mother moved to Guam when she was young and she dropped out of school at an early age.

Alicia A.G. Limtiaco, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the NMI, stated that the sexual exploitation and abuse of vulnerable individuals is an affront to fundamental human rights and will not be tolerated.

Limtiaco said Basa preyed on these young victims, manipulating and sexually exploiting them.

“The sentence sends the critical message that human trafficking is a crime that violates the very core and dignity of a human being and traffickers face severe punishment,” said Limtiaco in a statement.

She pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office remain committed to vigorously prosecuting and holding accountable those who perpetrate these heinous crimes.

Limtiaco reminded defendants who have committed sexual abuse of children that under federal and local law, all sex offenders have a duty to register and keep their registration current with the Sex Offender Registry in their jurisdiction.

Sex offenders who travel to the CNMI and who reside in the CNMI are required to inform the CNMI Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry where they reside, work, or attend school and that they must also periodically update their registration information.

The sex offender registry was created in order to protect the public by protecting victims, preventing further victimization and informing the public of the whereabouts of sex offenders.

Limtiaco said the prosecution of Basa is part of the U.S. DOJ’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, a nationwide commitment to aggressively prosecute defendants who engage in the sexual victimization of children and adults, possess or receive pornography, and sex offenders who fail to register with the jurisdiction’s Sex Offender Registry.

The FBI conducted the investigation in Basa’s case. Assistant U.S. attorneys Rami Badawy and Ross Naughton handled the case.