Man sentenced for trying to sell 4-year-old daughter for sex

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - A man was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Friday for listing his four-year-old daughter for sex under the heading, "Play with Daddie's [sic] Little Girl" on Craigslist, according to Harris County District Attorney's Office prosecutors.

A jury sentenced Andrew Turley, 30. after he was convicted of trafficking of a child and compelling prostitution of someone under the age of 18.

"This case broke my heart," said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Stewanna Miskell. "A father is supposed to be a protector not a predator. Jurors saw the need to keep him out of our community."

Turley believed he was communicating by email to someone who was responding to his Craigslist ad in 2015, but he was actually exchanging messages with a Houston Police Department Vice Division officer.

Over the course of almost 70 email messages, Turley told the vice officer that he had a girl "younger than 10" that he would give "sleep meds" for a sexual encounter. He charged $1,000 for two hours with his daughter, according to a statement from HCDAO.

Turley implied in the messages that the girl might be too young for intercourse but that other sexual acts were allowed. He coordinated a date and time with the person he was communicating with, which would be when Turley was in the Houston area to visit his daughter who lived with her mother in an apartment unit.

When the undercover vice officer arrived at the unit, Turley checked the cash, then escorted him to a bedroom where the girl was lying in bed and appeared to be "under the influence of an unknown substance," according to police. Turley was immediately arrested.

"Due to the excellent work of Houston Police Department Vice division, this little girl's life and innocence was saved," said Assistant District Attorney Johna Stallings, chief of the Child Exploitation Crimes Division.

Turley was sentenced to 30 years on each charge that must be served consecutively at the request of prosecutors, which means he must serve a minimum of 45 years before he is eligible for parole.