Juarez-Santamaria is from El Salvador, where he joined MS-13, and is in the United States illegally, according to prosecutors.

He met the 12-year-old girl, who had run away from her home, at a Halloween party in 2009, prosecutors said. The girl had asked him to help her find a place to stay. Court records say Juarez-Santamaria made the girl work as a prostitute from October to December 2009 and drove her to clients in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District.

“No child should ever have to suffer what this victim endured, and we will continue to pursue MS-13 and other criminal organizations that prey upon young girls and enslave them through sex trafficking,” Neil MacBride, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.

Juarez-Santamaria provided the girl with clothes, makeup and condoms, according to court documents. Prosecutors say the girl had sex with clients at homes, hotels and businesses throughout the area, and at times was being prostituted every day of the week.

Juarez-Santamaria “is considering his options,” his attorney, David Williams said. Williams said he had no other comment on the case.

Juarez-Santamaria is not the only MS-13 member to be associated with prostitution activities. At least two other members of the gang have been charged in Alexandria with sex-trafficking-related offenses this year.

In May, Alonso Bruno Cornejo Ormeno, 21, was indicted and accused of operating a prostitution business and transporting underage girls for sex. His case is scheduled to go to trial in September.

Another member, Alexander Rivas, was charged in February with running a prostitution ring using runaway girls. He pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Juarez-Santamaria is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and could get a life sentence.

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