A vile pimp described as a ‘modern-day enslaver’ has been jailed for his horrific crimes.
Derran Adkins, 26, was sentenced to 28 years and eight months behind bars for sex trafficking two teenagers, 17 and 19, along Los Angeles notorious Figueroa Corridor, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office confirmed.
Authorities said the 17-year-old men Adkins through social media and was forced into commercial sex trafficking in November 2024.
If she teen attempted to escape or refused to follow his pimp’s directions, she was assaulted.
On one occasion, he brutally mutilated her hand.
The 19-year-old worked as a sex worker between April 2024 and January 2025.
Adkins physically assaulted her if she failed to follow his instructions, questioned his authority or attempted to leave, authorities said.
Some of those assaults included being punched in the face, burned with a heated metal spoon or whipped with a hanger.
“A violent sex trafficker and modern-day enslaver has been taken off the streets as a result of the tireless work of our prosecutors and the Los Angeles Police Department,” LA District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said on Friday.
“The depravity of sex traffickers who prey on the most vulnerable in our community, including children, knows no bounds.”
Adkins pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 to one felony count of human trafficking of an adult and one felony count of human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act, both violent felonies. He was sentenced two days later.
The DA said Adkins admitted to inflicting “great bodily injury on both victims during the commission of these offenses.”
Hochman said the case “underscores that there will be dire consequences for sex traffickers” under his watch “especially traffickers who brutally torment their vulnerable young victims…For those operating in the sex trafficking industry in Los Angeles County, know this: Your prosecution is next.”
He added, “Sex trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar business of exploitation that must be destroyed on both the supply and demand side. In addition to aggressively prosecuting sex traffickers and pimps, my office’s prosecutors and investigators are working closely with law enforcement to target the sex buyers who drive demand, commonly referred to as ‘johns,’ so we can end sex trafficking once and for all.”
Even when Adkins leaves prison, he must register as a sex offender for life.