On August 19, 2022, Takanii Beatty, 47, was sentenced to 7 to 15 years in prison after he pled guilty in March 2022 to two counts of statutory sexual assault and promoting prostitution.
Beatty’s attorney, Lee Cohen, argued that Beatty should only be sentenced to the minimum sentence of four years or less because “Beatty’s co-defendant, Rivera, was the one who brought the minor to him and insisted she was 18 years old.” However, Judge Harry M. Ness was not persuaded by this argument. Furthermore, at Beatty’s sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Elen O’Donnel, stated, “I think a grown man with children can tell the difference between a 13-year-old and an 18-year-old.”
On March 19, 2020, we reported that Beatty was charged with forcible rape, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, patronizing a victim of sexual servitude, corruption of minors, patronizing prostitutes, and the furnishing of liquor to a minor. Beatty drove the 13-year-old victim and a woman identified as “Lele” to an apartment located at 1687 Westgate Drive on December 28, 2019. There, he forced the victim to drink numerous glasses of Cognac and shower with Lele. Beatty then isolated the victim and raped her. He gave her $120 and then left the apartment.
In handing down the 7 to 15 year sentence, Judge Ness pointed to Beatty’s prior convictions of assault, possession with intent to deliver, and various gun offenses, stating, “Nothing is going to change the way you are.”
This is just one small instance of justice for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. The CSE Institute commends Judge Ness and the York County District Attorney’s Office for their hard work and dedication to seeking justice for survivors of trafficking. We hope that others continue to come forward to seek justice, knowing that there are people in the criminal justice system who believe their stories and will take their cases seriously. The CSE Institute also commends the bravery and strength of the survivor in this case. Survivors’ voices and stories will be the true change in the sex trafficking narrative.
Beatty’s co-defendant in this matter, Lenee Rivera, 27, will be sentenced on October 5, following her guilty plea to trafficking of a minor, corruption of a minor, and indecent assault of a minor.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates in this matter as it proceeds.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.