U.S. Department
of Justice
Franklin County Man Sought on Child Sex Trafficking Charge
ST. LOUIS – The FBI, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are asking for the public’s help to locate a man who is facing child sex trafficking and child rape charges in state and federal court.
Donald Eugene Fields II, 58, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis December 7 on one count of child sex trafficking. Fields’ co-defendant, Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., 62, was indicted on the same charge. Sartori has been arrested and pleaded not guilty to the charge last week.
The indictment accuses both men of knowingly attempting to recruit, entice, provide, patronize and solicit a minor into engaging in a commercial sex act from about January 2013 until June 2017.
In a court hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins said Sartori provided cash, cars, motorcycles, vacations and Christmas presents to Fields in exchange for access to the victim.
Fields is also facing charges including statutory rape, statutory sodomy, child molestation and witness tampering in Franklin County Circuit Court. A warrant for his arrest was issued by that court after Fields vacated his home and failed to show up for a March 3, 2022 hearing, court records show.
Fields has been added to the list of “Wanted by the FBI.” The poster is available at this link: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/human-trafficking/donald-eugene-fields-ii
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The sex trafficking charge carries a potential penalty of ten years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
The case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins is prosecuting the case.