No prison time for St. Paul man accused of holding woman captive, torturing and sex-trafficking her

A judge’s sentence spared a St. Paul man any further time locked up after being accused of holding a woman captive in his home, then torturing and sex-trafficking her.

Jabari Quentin Junior, 23, was sentenced on Jan. 5 to time served in jail since his arrest after pleading guilty to first-degree assault in connection with charges that he terrorized a 19-year-old woman nearly a year ago in a West Side Flats apartment on Wabasha Street across the Mississippi River from downtown.

Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan set aside a term of roughly 8½ years and opted to put Junior on probation for five years. He also must be registered with the state for the next 10 years as a predatory offender.

The plea agreement led to two kidnapping counts and a second-degree assault charge being dismissed.

The County Attorney’s Office sought a sentence within the state guidelines range of roughly 6¼ to 8½ years for Junior.

Defense attorney Greg Egan acknowledged that “the facts in the case were certainly egregious, but the judge had the sound insight” to see that Junior was worthy of the sentence given him.

“It’s about the person and the strides he has made” through various rehabilitation programs, Egan said.

Police were called on Jan. 29, 2025, to Regions Hospital, where the woman was being treated for severe burns to her face, arms and torso from boiling water. She also had stab wounds to one shin and an arm.

The woman told police that Junior was her boyfriend and he repeatedly assaulted her for three days in his apartment after they started arguing because she was talking to other men.

She said Junior sheared off her hair because “if she wanted to talk to other men, he was going to make her look like one,” the complaint read.

She said that on her third day under Junior’s control he walked her to a nearby bus stop, where he called 911 and gave her the phone. Junior ran back to the apartment as emergency sirens wailed.

Officers contacted Junior and told him he was under arrest. He approached police outside and was apprehended.

The woman said Junior invited men to his apartment, where they paid him to sexually assault her. She said this occurred daily and under the threat of death.

Junior denied selling the woman for sex. He said she arranged the encounters and was paid directly.