| For Immediate Release Case # 12CF3194 August 12, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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PIMP SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON
FOR SEX TRAFFICKING MINOR AFTER HAVING
UNLAWFUL SEX WITH VICTIM
*Co-defendant recruited and introduced victim to pimp
SANTA ANA – A human trafficker was sentenced Friday, Aug. 9, 2013, to five years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl after having unlawful sexual intercourse with the victim. Berneal Holman, Jr., 29, Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to a court offer Aug. 1, 2013, to one felony count each of conspiracy to commit human trafficking of a minor, human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor, and pandering with a minor over 16 years old by procuring, and a 2004 prior conviction for pandering and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Holman’s maximum sentence would have been 18 years to life in state prison if he could have been charged under Proposition 35, which went into effect eight days after his arrest.
Co-defendant Whitney Latiss Jones, 26, Los Angeles, is charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to commit human trafficking of a minor, human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor, and pandering with a minor over 16 years old by procuring and a Strike prior for 2011 residential burglary. She faces a maximum sentence of 16 years in state prison if convicted and is scheduled for jury trial Oct. 22, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center.
Circumstances of the Case
Holman was convicted of being a pimp/modern-day slave owner. Jones is accused of working for him as the highest-ranking of Holman’s prostitutes and recruiting other women to prostitute for Holman.
In the pimp/prostitution subculture, pimps exploit women and/or children for financial gain often assign ranks to the women they exploit. They often establish rigid rules that their victims are expected to follow including requiring victims to address the pimp as “Sir” or “Daddy.” The victims are required to turn over all payment they receive for sex acts from sex purchasers to their pimp.
Between August 2012 and October 2012, Jones is accused of meeting 16-year-old Jane Doe and grooming the victim to become a prostitute. On multiple occasions, Jones is accused of physically abusing the victim by slapping Jane Doe across the face. During the grooming process, Jones is accused of taking Jane Doe to the Desert Inn Motel in Los Angeles and introducing the victim to Holman. At the motel, Holman had unlawful sexual intercourse with the victim and afterwards instructed her to call him “Daddy” and told her she now worked for him as a prostitute. Jones is accused of intimidating the victim by telling Jane Doe that Holman had previously beat Jones with a belt.
Over the course of approximately three months between August 2012 and October 2012, Holman drove Jane Doe to Anaheim to perform lewd sexual acts as a prostitute in exchange for money.