Two 18-year-old men are being held on $900,000 bail each after Stanislaus County detectives say they trafficked a juvenile victim and an adult victim for commercial sex across Southern California, Sacramento and several Bay Area cities. Braden Groves of Turlock and Emilio Barrera of Patterson remain in custody following their arrests last Tuesday, accused of running a scheme that stretched far beyond their home county.
According to Sierra Sun Times, detectives with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office Human Exploitation and Trafficking (H.E.A.T.) Task Force had been investigating a case involving a 16-year-old victim before the arrests came together. Barrera was taken into custody in Turlock while Groves was arrested in Oakland, both on September 8, and detectives seized more than $11,000 in cash during the operation, the outlet reports.
Detectives identified the juvenile victim as being from Anaheim on September 3, according to the same report. Days later, on September 8, that victim was safely recovered in Oakland and released into the care of Child Protective Services. Investigators say Groves and Barrera made multiple trips to Southern California, Sacramento and several Bay Area cities as part of the alleged trafficking operation, per the Sierra Sun Times account.
Charges Carry Steep Penalties Under State Law
Both men face charges of human trafficking of a minor under Penal Code § 236.1(c), along with conspiracy to commit a crime under Penal Code § 182(a), the sheriff’s office reported. California’s human trafficking statute does not require prosecutors to prove that a defendant deprived a minor of personal liberty to secure a conviction, and a defendant’s mistaken belief about a victim’s age is explicitly barred as a legal defense, according to Eisner Gorin LLP…