Houston Habitual Offender Receives 35-Year Sentence for Forcing Minor into Prostitution

Raven Ryon Lovings Jr., a habitual offender from Houston, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for forcing a 15-year-old girl into prostitution in 2019, according to an announcement by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

“The youth in our community are vulnerable, and when someone exploits them, like in this case, we have prosecutors who are dedicated to bringing these offenders to justice,” said Ogg. “We work closely with law enforcement and the families of victims to ensure that we collect all of the evidence we need, especially data and digital communications, so we can ensure that justice is done.”

Lovings, 33, was arrested in Humble in October 2019 by special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety after they located the missing girl who had been missing for a month.

The girl’s family had contacted authorities, and Texas DPS investigators were able to find her after agents received information on her whereabouts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Investigators discovered that Lovings had met the girl soon after she ran away from home, along with a woman who assisted in forcing the girl into prostitution, 26-year-old Imani Jean Cole.

After being arrested in 2019, Cole was released on a personal recognizance bond and subsequently jumped bail. She was re-arrested in June 2023, and a judge set her bail at $10,000. She made bond but jumped bail again. Authorities are actively searching for her.

On Monday, Lovings was sentenced to 35 years in prison by a Harris County jury following a six-day trial. Lovings had a previous history of imprisonment for armed robbery in 2010 and for a felon in possession of a firearm in 2018.

Assistant District Attorney Barbara Phillips and ADA Lucas Baty, assigned to the DA’s adult sex crimes division and trafficking/exploitation division, respectively, prosecuted Lovings.

“The investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety did an amazing job of collecting evidence, including text messages, online messaging, and ads,” Phillips said. “The jury was able to see everything that this defendant was doing and what was done on his behalf. It was a mountain of evidence.”