A missing 15-year-old girl from Peoria was found hundreds of miles away in a California city known for sex trafficking, and the man she says trafficked her is now behind bars facing charges in two states. Peoria police say 32-year-old Donte Lofton Jr. was arrested after investigators used an automated license plate reader to track down his rental car. Police opened the investigation on September 14.
According to ABC15, Peoria police opened their investigation on September 14 after coming to believe the runaway teenager was traveling to Florida with a man. Instead, investigators located her in Indio, California, an area the station describes as known for sex trafficking. There, the girl told authorities she was being trafficked by a man she identified as Lofton.
License Plate Technology Leads Police to Suspect
Investigators used an automated license plate reader to track Lofton's rental car, eventually locating it in Heber, the station reports. He was arrested there and booked into jail on charges of child sex trafficking and sex trafficking. Police also say similar charges are pending against him in California, and he is being held on a $250,000 bond.
The case took another troubling turn when a woman found with Lofton told investigators that she, too, was being trafficked, the outlet notes. Details about her identity have not been released.
A Pattern Playing Out Across the Southwest
A Pattern Playing Out Across the Southwest
Arizona Toughens Penalties for Buyers
The arrest also comes against the backdrop of a new state law aimed at the demand side of trafficking. As of mid-September, buying sex in Arizona is now a Class 6 felony rather than a misdemeanor, according to KOLD News 13. The law also establishes an anti-human-trafficking grant fund financed by a $200 payment from anyone convicted under the new felony statute.
The station reports that the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has seen a significant increase in sex-trafficking case submissions from law enforcement in recent years, and the Department of Justice has identified Phoenix as one of the top human-trafficking jurisdictions in the country. An Arizona State University researcher's work, cited by the same report, found that nine out of 10 people in prostitution situations in Arizona are trafficking victims rather than willing participants.
It remains unclear whether Lofton has entered a plea in either the Arizona or California cases.
