According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Sharon Burrell has sentenced defendant, Francisco Barahona, 46, of Gaithersburg to 45 years in prison suspend all but 30 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release.”
Per the news release: The sentencing hearing was held Friday, February 23, 2024. Barahona pleaded guilty on October 16, 2023, to charges of Sexual Abuse of a Minor and Second-Degree Rape.
In 2019, Barahona was in the midst of serving a ten-year sentence for federal drug trafficking charges when the victim in this case came forward to police to report rape and sex trafficking she endured for years at the hands of the defendant. The victim reported she was trafficked by a relative of Barahona’s from Guatemala across the border of Mexico into Texas where she was detained by United States Border Patrol. Barahona posed as her family member and coordinated her flight to Dulles International Airport in June of 2010. The victim was 14 years old at the time.
Upon arrival at the Defendant’s residence, Barahona told the victim that she would have to work for him in order to pay back for the flight and the “coyote” that had taken her across the U.S. Border. The Defendant forced her to have sex with men for money in order to pay back the money she owed. The Defendant also forced her to live with him in his bedroom and regularly have sexual intercourse with him.
Upon completion of his federal sentence, Barahona was transferred to Montgomery County to face the charges in this case which was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Sheila Bagheri.
“This sentence reflects the heinous exploitation of a child at the hands of many individuals because of the actions of the defendant. We thank the Montgomery County Police VICE and Intelligence Unit for their dedicated work and comprehensive investigation in this case,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.