He threatened gun violence when two teen girls withheld sex. Now a Royal Palm man will pay.
WEST PALM BEACH — A judge has sentenced a 26-year-old man to two mandatory life terms in prison after a jury found him guilty of human trafficking involving two teenage girls.
Cheridon Edgar of Royal Palm Beach is at least the third person to receive a life sentence after being convicted of the offense in Palm Beach County.
He received the sentence during a hearing March 12 before Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer. A jury in January found Edgar guilty of two counts of human trafficking involving a minor and four counts of lewd or lascivious battery.
Suskauer also imposed concurrent 38-year sentences on the four battery counts and ordered that Edgar register as a sex offender.
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During Edgar's sentencing hearing, Suskauer denied several defense motions, including requests for a new trial and to downward depart from the minimum sentencing guideline.
The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Force arrested Edgar in August 2020 on allegations that he offered two 15-year-olds cash and gifts in exchange for sex, then made threats when the teens attempted to end the illicit activities.
Edgar was known to carry a handgun and would threaten the teens and their families as a means of control when they no longer wanted to continue to engage in sex with him, investigators said.
The age of consent is 18, according to Florida statutes. People under age 16 cannot give consent under any circumstances. Those ages of 16 and 17 can give consent to a partner up to the age of 23.
Under state and federal law, human trafficking is the use of fraud, force or coercion to exploit another person for sex, labor or domestic servitude. At least twice before, people have received life sentences upon being found guilty of the crime in Palm Beach County.
In a separate case from 2019, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office secured its first life sentence for human trafficking after successfully appealing a lesser penalty that was imposed on Juan Cresencio Matos.
In August 2023, the Fourth District Court of Appeal overturned Matos' 40-year sentence, ruling that his conviction for human trafficking involving a minor for sex mandated a life sentence under state law.
A federal judge sentenced Alston Williams to five life terms in 2019 for multiple counts of sex trafficking.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: South Florida man sentenced for human trafficking of two teen girls