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Deputies find 15-year-old girl and her alleged pimp in SLO County

February 5, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Law enforcement personnel recently rescued a missing 15-year-old girl from Nevada who was being sex trafficked in San Luis Obispo County.

Authorities also caught the girl’s alleged pimp, but then released him, citing a lack of probable cause.

On Jan. 26, the San Luis Obispo County Counter Human Trafficking Team, CHP officers and FBI agents were answering online sex ads as part of a statewide effort to curb sex trafficking. Detectives answered a sex ad in which the female appeared in her photographs to be under the age of 18, according to the SLO County Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives arranged a meeting with the female under the pretense it would be a “date.” The female arrived and investigators detained her. After significant investigation, detectives determined the female was a 15-year-old missing and at-risk girl from Nevada.

Investigators also identified a male suspect in the area who, based on his behavior, was possibly a trafficker of the girl, investigators said. The suspect realized he was being surveilled by law enforcement and attempted to flee, but officers located him.

Detectives determined the suspect was tied to the girl. But, probable cause for his arrest did not exist at the time, so they released him.

Over the course of a followup investigation, detectives obtained evidence showing the suspect was trafficking the 15-year-old girl. Law enforcement personnel will seek a warrant and a criminal complaint against the suspect, as well as any other possible suspects in the case.


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OK…. if he’s/she’s now an identified at-large suspect, then name him/her.


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This is happening all across the country and is more common than anyone imagines. Great job done by SLO County Team. I hope that local and Nevada social services and non-profit organizations can help this girl get the support she needs to move on from this and head toward a positive path. Too often these girls are ‘rescued’ only to continue to fall through the cracks and end up back in similar situations. There is no end to how many ways a young girl can be exploited. Ultimately, the end user….the johns and those who utilize the services from massage parlors and sex workers need to be identified and charged. Without an end user, there would be no industry.


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