SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Las Vegas man and woman are scheduled to be arraigned today for trafficking and pimping a 16-year-old Utah girl in Costa Mesa.

Hunter is accused of being a human trafficker/pimp and Bates is accused of working for him as a prostitute and recruiting other women to prostitute for Hunter. In the pimp/prostitution subculture, pimps exploit women and/or children for financial gain often assign ranks to the women they exploit. With the rise in popularity of social media and ease of meeting people on the Internet, many pimps and human traffickers utilize a variety of social media to locate potential victims. They often establish rigid rules that their victims are expected to follow including requiring victims to speak only when spoken to, address the pimp as “Sir” or “Daddy,” assigning seats in the car based on “rank,” and setting daily quotas that the victims are expected to fulfill. The victims are required to turn over all payment they receive for sex acts from sex purchasers to their pimp. Failure to follow these rules can result in deprivation of food and/or physical or emotional abuse.

Circumstances of the Case

• In early November 2017, Hunter and Bates are accused of meeting a 16-year-old Utah girl in Las Vegas and trafficking her to Costa Mesa.
• Between Nov. 20, 2017, and Nov. 24, 2017, Hunter is accused of having unlawful sex with the victim and pimping her by arranging for Jane Doe to meet with sex purchasers.
• Hunter is accused of taking all money the victim received from commercial sex for his own benefit.
• Prior to Nov. 24, 2017, Bates and Hunter are accused of arranging for her to solicit sex in areas known for prostitution.
• On Nov. 24, 2017, the defendants are accused of getting into an altercation with each other at a motel in Costa Mesa, and the police were called by a patron of the motel.
• Costa Mesa Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to the scene and arrested the defendants.
• CMPD located Jane Doe in the room and identified her as a potential victim of human trafficking.

Members of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) and the Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) Office work proactively to protect women and minors from falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. This case was investigated by CMPD and OCHTTF, a partnership between Anaheim Police Department, California Highway Patrol, CMPD, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Irvine Police Department, Newport Beach Police Department, OCDA, Orange County Sheriff's Department, Santa Ana Police Department, and community and non-profit partners.

Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Kelly Manley, HEAT Unit

Proposition 35 and HEAT

To read more about California's anti-human trafficking Proposition 35 (Prop 35) and the OCDA's Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, please visit www.orangecountyda.org and select Human Trafficking Information from the Media Center drop down menu.

Orange County District Attorney / Case # 17CF2948 / November 28, 2017