Porterville police: Teenage girl found at Las Vegas hotel with 20-year-old Florida man
A missing Tulare County teenager was found at a Las Vegas hotel along with a 20-year-old Florida man that she met online, according to Porterville police.
The man now faces a slew of charges related to the investigation, including sex trafficking. Federal charges could follow.
"The Porterville Police Department would like to remind families that sex traffickers are constantly seeking out victims through social media," Porterville Capt. Dominic Barteau said. "It is important that parents have conversations with their children about these types of predators to prevent this from happening to them."
Here's what Porterville detectives say happened during their weeklong investigation.
Crossing state lines
On Aug. 18, police responded to a home in Porterville for a report of a 17-year-old girl who had run away from home. The girl left her home without her parents' consent and had been talking to a man she met on social media, police said.
It's unclear how long the girl had been missing when police were contacted.
After patrol officers had "exhausted all leads," detectives took over the investigation, Barteau stated. The girl was eventually tracked to the Fresno and Clovis areas, but detectives were unable to find her.
Detectives discovered the girl had boarded a flight at the Fresno International Airport and traveled across state lines to Nevada. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was contacted about the Tulare County case and asked to search several areas to try and find the girl.
Las Vegas police also came up empty-handed.
However, detectives said they learned the identity of the man the teenager was with, Amari Keishawn Brown. They also discovered that the girl was with Brown at a Las Vegas hotel. The information was relayed to Las Vegas detectives, Barteau stated.
Las Vegas police went to the hotel, where they found the girl and Brown.
Brown was arrested, and the girl was reunited with her family in Porterville, Barteau stated.
Porterville detectives said they are working with the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office to charge Brown with sex trafficking, sending harmful matter to a minor, arranging to meet a minor for lewd acts, lewd acts with a minor, possession of child pornography, sexual battery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and child endangerment.
Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of if there any form of force, fraud, or coercion used, according to California Department of Justice.
California is one of the largest sites of human trafficking in the U.S, according to the DOJ. In 2018, 1,656 cases of human trafficking were reported in California. Of those cases, 1,226 were sex trafficking cases, 151 were labor trafficking cases, and 110 involved labor and sex trafficking.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is urged to contact the Porterville Police Department at 782-7400, or through the department's Facebook page. Those who have information may also provide it anonymously. All information should be forwarded to the department's General Investigations Unit.
Department of Justice's online safety guide for parents:
Discuss internet safety and develop an online safety plan with children before they engage in online activity. Establish clear guidelines, teach children to spot red flags, and encourage children to have open communication with you.
Supervise young children’s use of the internet, including periodically checking their profiles and posts.
Review games, apps, and social media sites before they are downloaded or used by children. Pay particular attention to apps and sites that feature end-to-end encryption, direct messaging, video chats, file uploads, and user anonymity, which are frequently relied upon by online child predators.
Adjust privacy settings and use parental controls for online games, apps, social medial sites, and electronic devices.
Tell children to avoid sharing personal information, photos, and videos online in public forums or with people they do not know in real life. Explain to your children that images posted online will be permanently on the internet.
Teach children about body safety and boundaries, including the importance of saying "no" to inappropriate requests both in the physical world and the virtual world.
Be alert to potential signs of abuse, including changes in children’s use of electronic devices, attempts to conceal online activity, withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts, anxiety, and depression.
Encourage children to tell a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult if anyone asks them to engage in sexual activity or other inappropriate behavior.
Immediately report suspected online enticement or sexual exploitation of a child by calling 911, contacting the FBI at tips.fbi.gov, or filing a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Police: Tulare County teen found at Las Vegas hotel with 20-year-old man
