Sex trafficker gets life sentence for ‘nightmare’ crime
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A sex trafficker from Battle Creek will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Federal Judge Janet Neff sentenced Michael Anthony Clayton Monday in connection to what she called “a horrendous, drug-fueled, weapon-heavy nightmare.”
A jury found Clayton guilty of producing child pornography involving three girls about half his age and forcing one of them into prostitution. The jury also convicted Clayton of conspiring to distribute cocaine and being a felon in possession of weapons.
The case against Clayton started on Oct. 5, 2017 when police got a call that he was holding a 16-year-old girl against her will. The girl had sent a text message to her dad saying she was afraid for her life and being held against her will in the basement of a house in the 500 block of Lakeview Avenue in Battle Creek.
Battle Creek police went to the home and rescued the girl from an unlit basement Clayton had forced her into to avoid police detection. Officers also arrested Clayton and Ramiro Ortis Hernandez Jr.
The victim told detectives she met Clayton a few weeks earlier when he invited her to a party, gave her cocaine, and expected her to have sex with him as payment for the drugs. Authorities say Clayton continued to give the teen cocaine and demand sex.
Federal investigators who combed through Clayton’s iPhone and Snapchat account found more than 20 videos of him engaging in sex acts with the 16-year-old girl, as well as 10 more videos involving a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl.
Investigators also found videos of Clayton, who went by the nickname “Rodeo Loco,” with cocaine and guns.
The 16-year-old girl also told detectives that Clayton and Hernandez pushed her to have sex with a stranger for $1,000, and that Clayton kept all of the money.
Hernandez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking and agreeing to testify against Clayton.
The mother of Clayton’s child, Davi Bailey, could also face charges after police say she threatened the 16-year-old victim, her mother and their family.