Missouri man to plead in teen sex trafficking case

A Missouri man is scheduled to plead guilty to charges that he took a 17-year-old girl from Massachusetts to Rhode Island with the intent of selling her for sex.

Authorities say 30-year-old Stephen Ardrey took the developmentally delayed girl from a library in Medfield, Mass., in September. She was found a few days later in Coventry, R.I., after someone saw her walking with Ardrey.

The Springfield, Mo., man was arrested and has been in federal custody.

He is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on Wednesday.

In a plea agreement entered this month in federal court in Providence, Ardrey agreed to plead guilty to trafficking a minor and transporting a minor to engage in sex.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.

This story was originally published February 26, 2014 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Missouri man to plead in teen sex trafficking case."