Man found guilty of selling drugs to minors, luring them into sex trafficking
Nov. 22—A Kern County jury found a man guilty of selling drugs to Bakersfield residents such as teenagers at a local high school and luring those minors into sex trafficking, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the Kern County District Attorney's Office.
Kajuan Richardson had an "illegal drug business" from November 2021 to February 2022 in which he would use the app Snapchat to sell his drugs to many, including those between 14 to 17 years old, the news release said. Through this operation, Richardson would induce minors into sex trafficking and use the internet to "sell his victims online and in local motels," the news release added.
A teenager testified she ingested drugs to get through having sex with buyers, the news release stated.
Richardson was convicted in Orange County for human trafficking, sentenced to eight years in prison and then released on post release community supervision in 2020.
Kern High School District Officer Ryan Calderon informed Kern County Sheriff's Deputy Meghan Hylton-Reed about Richardson's interactions with minors and the KCSO launched an investigation this year.
Richardson was arrested in February. Jurors found Richardson guilty Monday of three counts of human trafficking of a minor, pimping, unlawfully possessing a firearm, possessing cannabis for sale and possessing obscene matter of a minor.
"Human traffickers prey on women and children, create misery and exploit people for money gain," District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a statement. "Richardson, who already had been caught and convicted on a previous trafficking case, targeted children to be sexually abused and sold for profit. We will not allow our children to be taken into sexual slavery, and traffickers will face the harshest penalties the law provides for these atrocious crimes."
A sentencing hearing for Richardson is set Dec. 16, when he could get 33 years in prison, the news release added.
