Hollywood man sentenced to life for sex trafficking, kidnapping

MIAMI – A Hollywood, Florida, man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for forced sex trafficking and kidnapping. The sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the Hollywood Police Department.

Shaun Eric McKinley, 35, was found guilty Sept. 18 of one count of sex trafficking by force and one count of kidnapping. According to evidence presented at trial, in Dec. 2013 McKinley met a 28-year-old female outside of his home. Within three days McKinley was acting as her pimp and would assault her for returning late from prostitution dates. For that reason the victim was forced to meet all customers at McKinley’s home where he would be able to control her. The victim averaged five to seven dates a day, seven days a week with the earning goings to the suspect.

The victim first attempted to leave McKinley in Feb. 2014, but he quickly found her and dragged her by the hair all the way home. Once at the house he punished her by making her strip naked, covered her head with a pillow case, hogtied her with extension cords and beat her with a board.

The victim waited until April 2014 to attempt another escape, and although it was initially successful it was short lived. A few weeks after her escape, McKinley lured the victim out of hiding and used ruse to get her into a dark alley, where he physically assaulted her, threw her into a car and then drove away with her. The kidnapping was captured on surveillance video from a nearby business and was played for the jury. The victim was able to escape when McKinley stopped at a convenience store for a cigar and left his friend watching her. That friend testified that after McKinley was out of sight he unlocked the car door so the victim could run. After flagging down a passing ambulance, the victim was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital where she was treated for her injuries, which included a fractured front tooth, a lip laceration and head contusions. Fearing that the victim would speak to police, McKinley showed up at the hospital looking for her while he was dressed in clothes covered in her blood. A concerned nurse and an alert Hollywood Police Officer working a detail at the hospital prevented McKinley from reaching the victim and placed him under arrest.