Petaluma Man Sentenced to Prisonfor Pimping and Sex Crimes Against Minors

District Attorney Jill Ravitch has announced that Defendant Laiken James, 21 years old of Petaluma, was sentenced in two cases today by the Honorable Brad DeMeo to a term of seven years and four months in the state prison as a result of pleading no-contest to six felony charges which involved pimping, unlawful sexual intercourse or oral copulation with four separate minor victims, and possession of alprazolam for the purpose of sales.

The two cases against James stemmed from investigations conducted by the Petaluma Police Department, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, and the Santa Rosa Police Department. The investigations revealed James was pimping an 18-year-old woman. The investigations also revealed that James engaged in sexual conduct with numerous teenagers when he was an adult. Additionally, detectives established James was illicitly selling alprazolam. Alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax, is a drug that is frequently abused by teenagers.

James was charged in November 2017 with crimes dating back to 2015, and involving multiple victims. While a felony case was pending against James, he was initially permitted by the court to remain out of custody on bail. In March 2018, while out of custody, James again engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse with another minor, leading to a second felony case being filed against him. Prior to the cases being set for trial, James entered into an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office in which he pled no-contest to six felony offenses. Per the terms of the agreement, James was sentenced to 7 years and 4 months in the state prison. James will be required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Penal Code section 290 when he is released on parole.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Andrew Lukas. Detective Tim Raymond of the Santa Rosa Police Department, Detective Duaine Labno of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, and Officer Nicholas Raccanello from the Petaluma Police Department headed their agencies’ investigations.