A 34-year-old woman has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for prostituting two runaway teenage friends, using Internet advertising to offer up the girls for sex in a west metro apartment.

Kimberly S. Latham, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Minneapolis, ending a case that began when Latham approached the two girls from Chisago County on a north Minneapolis street while they were on the run in November 2011.

According to court documents:

Latham spotted the high school-age girls roaming around near West Broadway and Dupont Avenue N. She gave them a card and said to contact her if they were ever in trouble.

The girls acted on the offer and ended up at Latham's residence at the Cedar Ridge Apartments on Cedar Lake Road, across the street from Hopkins High School. The girls were advertised for sex on the Internet and via cellphone, with Latham collecting proceeds.

Latham also had advertised herself for sexual activity on the Backpages.com website as "Sarah" and had been a victim of sexual violence as a youth, the court documents added.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482