LOS ANGELES, CA – A 23-year-old Moreno Valley man has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking two minors in Los Angeles County, including along the Figueroa Corridor in South Los Angeles, federal prosecutors announced.
Christian Brandon O’Neal Scurlock was sentenced Friday to 262 months, or 21 years and 10 months, in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu also ordered him to pay $159,246 in restitution and placed him on lifetime supervised release following his prison sentence.
Scurlock had been in federal custody since August 2024 and pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of sex trafficking of a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The sentence concludes a federal case that prosecutors said involved two girls, ages 13 and 16, whom Scurlock recruited for commercial sex acts in Los Angeles County and later transported from the region to Las Vegas.
Prosecutors said victims were 13 and 16
According to the plea agreement described by federal prosecutors, Scurlock recruited two minors and caused them to engage in commercial sex work.
One of the girls was 13 years old when Scurlock recruited her after she ran away from a group home. Prosecutors said he maintained her involvement in commercial sex work and that he also admitted to having illicit sexual intercourse with her.
The second victim was 16 years old.
The federal government’s account of the case describes a pattern in which Scurlock exercised control over different aspects of the girls’ lives while maintaining their involvement in commercial sex.
Prosecutors said he controlled their money, housing, transportation and food. He also provided them with clothing to wear while soliciting customers and gave them smartphones so they could communicate with him.
The case therefore involved more than simply transporting the victims to particular locations. According to the plea agreement, prosecutors said Scurlock exercised control over basic necessities and finances while directing the minors’ activities.
He also supplied the victims with marijuana and alcohol, according to the federal government’s account.
Figueroa Corridor was part of the trafficking
Some of the conduct occurred along the Figueroa Corridor in South Los Angeles, an area that federal prosecutors described as a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street running from Gage Avenue to Imperial Highway.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Scurlock knew the corridor was frequented by people involved in commercial sex and customers seeking commercial sex.
The location has also been the focus of previous Los Angeles Police Department human-trafficking enforcement operations. LAPD has previously described operations along the Figueroa Corridor as efforts to address prostitution and human-trafficking activity, including trafficking involving women and minors.
That local enforcement history provides context for why the Figueroa Corridor appears repeatedly in human-trafficking investigations. It does not, by itself, establish that every person involved in commercial sex activity in the area is a trafficking victim or that every commercial-sex investigation involves minors.
In Scurlock’s case, however, federal prosecutors specifically said the victims were minors and that he knew the Figueroa Corridor was an area where commercial-sex activity occurred.
How federal law defines trafficking involving minors
The case also illustrates an important distinction in federal trafficking law.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1591, federal law prohibits knowingly recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining or maintaining a person for a commercial sex act when the person is under 18.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s guide to federal child sex-trafficking law explains that when the alleged victim is a minor, prosecutors do not have to prove that force, fraud or coercion was used to cause the minor to engage in a commercial sex act. The law defines a minor for this purpose as someone under 18.
Federal law also does not require the victim or defendant to cross a state or international border for conduct to qualify under Section 1591. The Justice Department specifically notes that interstate movement is not an essential element of a child sex-trafficking offense.
That legal framework is relevant to Scurlock’s case because the conduct described by prosecutors primarily occurred in Los Angeles County, even though the investigation also involved a later trip to Nevada.
Victims were taken from Los Angeles to Las Vegas
In April 2024, prosecutors said Scurlock transported the two minors from Los Angeles County to a motel in Las Vegas, where they were intended to engage in commercial sex work.
The trip ultimately led to Scurlock’s arrest.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department found Scurlock with both minors inside his vehicle. Officers also found $985 in cash and condoms in the vehicle.
The circumstances surrounding the Las Vegas arrest became part of the federal investigation that ultimately resulted in the sex-trafficking charge to which Scurlock pleaded guilty.
The investigation involved the FBI, LAPD and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, according to federal prosecutors.
The case therefore crossed jurisdictional lines during the investigation even though the federal charges included conduct that occurred in Los Angeles County.
Scurlock remained in federal custody for more than two years
Scurlock was taken into federal custody in August 2024 and remained there through his sentencing.
His case was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where court records show proceedings under case number 2:24-cr-00501-WLH before Judge Wesley L. Hsu. A federal court calendar from November 2025 identifies Scurlock as a defendant in custody in that case.
A later federal court filing shows that Scurlock appeared for a change-of-plea hearing concerning the indictment.
He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor in July 2025 rather than taking the case to a trial.
The Friday sentencing brought the criminal proceedings to a sentencing stage, although the consequences of the conviction will continue through his federal prison term, restitution obligation and lifetime supervised release.
Restitution ordered for victims
In addition to the 262-month prison sentence, Judge Hsu ordered Scurlock to pay $159,246 in restitution.
Restitution is separate from the prison sentence. It is intended to compensate victims for qualifying losses resulting from the offense.
The Justice Department’s explanation of federal child sex-trafficking law specifically notes that defendants convicted under the statute are required to pay restitution to victims for losses caused by the offense.
Scurlock was also placed on lifetime supervised release, meaning his federal sentence includes a period of court-supervised restrictions after his incarceration.
The combination of a lengthy prison term, restitution and lifetime supervision reflects the federal penalties associated with a conviction involving the commercial sexual exploitation of minors.
Federal law carries severe penalties for child trafficking
Federal law establishes particularly severe sentencing ranges for sex-trafficking offenses involving children.
The Justice Department states that when a victim is under 14, or when force, fraud or coercion is involved, federal law provides for a prison sentence ranging from 15 years to life. When the victim is between 14 and 17 and those aggravating circumstances are not present, the statutory minimum is lower but the offense can still carry a substantial federal sentence.
Scurlock’s sentence of 262 months falls within that federal framework.
The specific sentence imposed in his case reflects the resolution reached after his guilty plea and the court’s sentencing determination. It should not be interpreted as establishing the sentence that would apply to every federal child sex-trafficking case, since penalties can depend on the specific conduct, victims, charges and circumstances established in each case.
Investigation involved multiple agencies
The investigation required cooperation among agencies in California and Nevada.
The FBI participated in the federal investigation, while LAPD investigated activity connected to Los Angeles and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department handled the arrest after Scurlock traveled with the two victims to Nevada.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office credited the three agencies with investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelsey A. Stimson of the General Crimes Section and Danbee C. Kim of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section prosecuted the matter.
The cooperation illustrates how trafficking cases can involve multiple jurisdictions even when much of the alleged conduct occurs within one metropolitan area.
A victim may be recruited in one location, transported to another, and encountered by law enforcement somewhere else, requiring investigators and prosecutors from different agencies to coordinate evidence and jurisdictional responsibilities.
Sentence follows guilty plea
Scurlock’s case is now at a different stage from a pending criminal investigation because he has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced.
The federal government’s sentencing announcement states that he pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. The court then imposed the 262-month sentence on September 18, 2026, along with restitution and lifetime supervised release.
The victims’ ages, the locations described by prosecutors and the conduct outlined in the plea agreement were central to the case.
For Los Angeles, the case also highlights continued law-enforcement attention to the Figueroa Corridor, where LAPD has previously conducted operations targeting human trafficking and related commercial-sex activity.
Scurlock’s sentence does not resolve the broader issue of trafficking in the area, but it does mark the conclusion of a federal prosecution involving two minors and conduct prosecutors said occurred in both Los Angeles County and Las Vegas.
Christian Brandon O’Neal Scurlock, 23, will serve 262 months in federal prison, pay $159,246 in restitution and remain under federal supervision for life after his release.
