By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — After a four-day trial, 25-year-old Dalonte Foard of Omaha was found guilty Monday by federal jury of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor.
Foard faces up to life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years.
In September 2020, two girls, ages 16 and 17, had gone missing from their foster home. Foard had picked them up. He took them to a hotel where an associate of his posted online messages advertising the girls for sex acts.
The following morning, Foard sexually assaulted one of the minors to “break her in,” according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Omaha, before turning her over to a man who responded to the ad.
The man paid $60 to engage in a sex act with the victim, of which Foard took $50.
The case was the result of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in 2006.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Omaha Police Department and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office participated in the investigation.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen recently declared January “Human Trafficking Awareness Month” in the state. The event included the unveiling of a new state hotline to report suspected cases of human trafficking, 1-833-PLS-LOOK.
U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher scheduled Foard’s sentencing for April 19.