A man from Davie has been convicted of sex trafficking and child pornography charges, according to the FBI.
Taylor Jordan Wardlow, 23, was found guilty by a jury on four counts in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.
In January, a 16-year-old girl had contacted Wardlow, who was a "family friend," after she ran away from her group home in Miami.
The teen told authorities Wardlow asked her if she was interested in earning extra money. He then picked up the girl and drove her to his apartment, according to court documents.
Once there, the report stated Wardlow took photos of the girl and then placed an advertisement offering her sexual services on Backpage.com.
The girl told authorities that once the advertisement was posted, she started receiving phone calls from adult male clients. She said Wardlow would have her meet the clients, either at a hotel or near his apartment, and have sex with the men for money.
The report said the girl earned $1,000 within three hours and was required to give all the money to Wardlow for allowing her to live at his apartment.
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The girl said Wardlow required her to have an advertisement posted almost every night.
In February, the girl told authorities she locked herself in the bathroom of Wardlow's apartment and told him she wanted to leave. She said Wardlow told her if she told anyone what was happening, he would hunt her down and kill her.
In addition, the girl said if she refused to have sex with Wardlow, he would become physical with her, usually by choking her with his hands until she blacked out.
The girl eventually left the apartment by pretending to meet a client, but instead went to a friend's home and called police.
Wardlow also allegedly had another 15-year-old girl in the apartment that he was posting prostitution ads for.
A search warrant was later conducted at Wardlow's apartment. When interviewed by police, he denied posting prostitution ads for the girls.
Wardlow has been found guilty on two counts of sex trafficking a minor and one count each of producing and possessing child porn.
