(CINCINNATI)— Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters announced today that an Ohio woman will spend at least 51 years in prison for trafficking a child.
This morning, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz sentenced April Corcoran, 32, of Pleasant Plain, to 51 years to life in prison. The defendant was also classified as a Tier III sex offender.
Corcoran was indicted on multiple charges in March 2015, after an investigation conducted by the Cincinnati Police Department revealed that she trafficked the girl to Shandell Willingham, 42, of Cincinnati, in exchange for heroin in 2014. She was also found to have forced the child, who was 11 years old at the time, to use heroin.
Corcoran pleaded guilty in June to charges of trafficking in persons, complicity (rape), endangering children, and corrupting another with drugs.
"Many people mistakenly think that human trafficking only happens in foreign countries, but this case shows that children are trafficked here in Ohio, and, sadly, some are trafficked by the very people who should be protecting them," said Attorney General DeWine. "Human trafficking is a reprehensible crime, and law enforcement throughout the state is focused on holding traffickers accountable and helping victims escape servitude."
“Good riddance," said Prosecutor Deters. "I have no use for people like this in society."
The case against Willingham, who was also charged in March 2015, is pending. He is accused of sex crimes against the victim, some of which he videotaped, and is currently in the Hamilton County Jail.
The case is the first Hamilton County prosecution in state court for human trafficking and was prosecuted jointly by the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office and the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840
Hamilton County - Julie Wilson: 513-946-3213