A Little Rock woman faces up to life in prison after a federal jury convicted her in a child sex trafficking case involving a 6-year-old girl.
Beth Englade, 36, was found guilty Thursday, October 29, on 1 count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross of the Eastern District of Arkansas announced. Jurors reached the verdict after deliberating about 3 hours at the end of a 3-day trial.
Englade was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 7, 2022.
According to evidence presented at trial, the child was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in February 2018 with symptoms later found to be caused by several sexually transmitted diseases. She told an FBI forensic interviewer that a man later identified as DeMarcus George had raped her, and that another man, later identified as Mario Waters, had raped her in a hotel room.
Doctors determined the child likely contracted the diseases from multiple offenders. Officers obtained search warrants for blood and urine samples from George and Waters, and both men tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases the child had contracted.
At trial, George testified that Englade helped him traffic the child, including renting the hotel rooms where the trafficking took place and making the child available. He also testified that Englade brought the child with her while she was engaged in prostitution.
Financial records showed Englade rented numerous hotel rooms during that period, and her phone records confirmed she had contacted many hotels. Jurors saw text messages between George and Englade, including Englade’s promise to George that she would not talk to police. They also heard Englade’s statements to police, which prosecutors said contained numerous inconsistencies.
George and Waters were indicted on the same conspiracy charge in 2019. Both pleaded guilty in 2021 and were sentenced to life in prison. Waters was killed a short time after his sentencing while in federal Bureau of Prisons custody.
Englade will be sentenced at a later date. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. More information is available at justice.gov/psc.
The Little Rock Police Department investigated the case with help from the FBI and the Arkansas State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristin Bryant and Ashley Bowen prosecuted the case.
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