FILE - Handcuffs sitting on a table. (Bernd Wüstneck/picture alliance via Getty Image)
SAN FRANCISCO - A Daly City resident was charged in connection with human trafficking offenses after being arrested while driving a minor through San Francisco.
Court documents show that 28-year-old Otis Broughton has been charged with human trafficking involving a minor by force and pandering by encouraging.
Broughton and another man were arrested after allegedly driving along Turk Street at a high speed and making quick, unsafe lane changes.
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San Francisco police officers initiated a traffic stop and detained Broughton, his passenger, and the underage girl who was in the backseat.
"The victim was reluctant to speak to officers in front of Mr. Broughton, but once she was moved away from him, she told officers that she was a minor and had been participating in sex work," a release from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office states. "She stated that Mr. Broughton had picked her up in Oakland and driven her to multiple places in San Francisco. While in the car, the victim had told Mr. Broughton several times, through tears, that she wanted to go home, but he did not take her home."
Text messages between the victim and Broughton allegedly indicated he was recruiting her to work as a sex worker for him.
The case was investigated and is being prosecuted by members of the San Francisco Human Trafficking Task Force, a multi-agency collaboration that works to combat human trafficking. The unit brings together law enforcement from state, local and federal agencies, as well as prosecutors and victim service providers.
Broughton is scheduled to be arraigned on June 24 at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice. Prosecutors will move to have Broughton detained without bail pending trial because he poses a risk to public safety, the District Attorney’s office stated.
The Source: San Francisco District Attorney's Office