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Two Sentenced For Luring Girl Into Prostitution

WOODSTOCK (CBS) -- Two northwest suburban Lake in the Hills women who lured a young girl from Kansas into prostitution were each sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday.

McHenry County State's Attorney Louis A. Bianchi said in a news release that Kari Knox and Antwanette Atkins, 44, both of the 3500 block of Sonoma Circle, were sentenced on Class X felony charges of involuntary servitude of a minor after they were found guilty by a jury last August.

A third defendant — Donald R. Jones, 52, of the same address — still faces similar charges here in Illinois plus an aggravated trafficking charge out of Sedgwick County, Kan.

According to prosecutors, on Dec. 31, 2009, Knox and Atkins helped arrange for the 14-year-old girl to come to Illinois to engage in prostitution.

Knox photographed the minor in various poses and then uploaded the photographs to the Internet. Knox also provided clothing for the victim to wear and drove the victim to two separate suburban locations where the minor engaged in sexual acts.

Atkins posed with the minor in some of the photos, talked with the minor about how to detect if the men were police officers, told her how to interact with the men, and took phone calls to obtain addresses for the males responding to the Internet posting, according to the state's attorney's office.

Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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