HOUSTON – A habitual offender and sex trafficker from Houston was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of forcing a 15-year-old girl into prostitution in 2019, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Wednesday.
Raven Ryon Lovings Jr., 33, was arrested in Humble in October 2019 by special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety after they located the victim, who reportedly had been missing for a month.
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Ogg said the girl’s family had contacted authorities and Texas DPS investigators were able to find her after agents received information on her whereabouts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“The youth in our community are vulnerable and when someone exploits them, like in this case, we have prosecutors who are dedicated to bringing these offenders to justice,” Ogg said. “We work closely with law enforcement and the families of victims to ensure that we collect all of the evidence we need, especially data and digital communications, so we can ensure that justice is done.”
Investigators learned that the victim had been with Lovings, who had met the girl soon after she ran away from home, and a woman who helped him force the girl into prostitution-- 26-year-old Imani Jean Cole.
After being arrested in 2019, Ogg said Cole was released on a personal recognizance bond and jumped bail. She was re-arrested in June 2023 and a judge set her bail at $10,000. She made bond and jumped bail again. Authorities continue to search for her.
On Monday, Lovings was sentenced by a Harris County jury after a six-day trial. Authorities said he had previously spent time in prison for an armed robbery conviction in 2010 and again in 2018 for a felon in possession of a firearm conviction.
Assistant District Attorney Barbara Phillips, who is assigned to the DA’s adult sex crimes division, and ADA Lucas Baty, who is assigned to the DA’s trafficking/exploitation division, prosecuted Lovings.
“The investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety did an amazing job of collecting evidence, including text messages, online messaging and ads,” Phillips said. “The jury was able to see everything that this defendant was doing and what was done on his behalf. It was a mountain of evidence.”