Man found guilty of sex trafficking child in mother’s Dorchester basement

A Boston man was found guilty in federal court of sex trafficking a child after he was accused of prostituting a 16-year-old girl in the basement of his mother’s Dorchester home and across state lines to Rhode Island hotels, prosecutors said.

Tramonte Jamier Queen, 26, was convicted of one count of sex trafficking a child and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, US Attorney Leah Foley’s office announced. He was previously indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023.

“Tramonte Queen preyed on a young, impressionable girl, selling her body for his own benefit. His actions were abhorrent, and we will continue to hold traffickers accountable for exploiting children,” Foley said.

Queen was accused of directing the 16-year-old to take provocative photos for him to use in online commercial sex advertisements beginning in January of 2022, prosecutors said. He arranged with sex buyers for the victims to perform sex acts in his mother’s basement in Dorchester. Later, he trafficked her from hotels in Rhode Island, prosecutors said.

According to an affidavit filed in federal court, the 16-year-old girl “was part of his larger, then-ongoing sex trafficking operation” which involved two other victims. He was allegedly physically abusive to one, who was pregnant with his child.

The 16-year-old girl told police that neighbors near Queen’s mother’s house “realized that there was prostitution activity occurring at the home because they notice that there were many men going in and out of the house,” the affidavit said.

Queen was arrested on Feb. 5, 2022 while driving with the teen girl, Foley’s office said.

Ted Docks, the FBI Boston’s Special Agent in Charge, said the case against Queen “highlights our Child Exploitation – Human Trafficking Task Force’s unflinching commitment to pursuing justice for all victims of sex trafficking.”

“Tramonte Jamier Queen callously groomed and manipulated a 16-year-old girl with total disregard for her well-being and sex trafficked her out of his mother’s basement and across state lines,” Docks said. 

Queen’s sentencing appears to not yet be scheduled. Each charge carries a sentence of at least 10 years up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, prosecutors said.

His lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday evening.

Anyone impacted or experiencing commercial sex trafficking should contact federal prosecutors at [email protected].

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.