A 26-year-old Long Beach man who brought two teenage girls to San Diego so they could be used in prostitution was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Diego.
Prosecutors said Deonathan Abdul Gaston took the two girls, ages 15 and 16, to San Diego in August.
One of them had known Gaston since she was 14, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Before taking her to San Diego, Gaston took the girl to Los Angeles from her home in Arizona, where she’d been reported missing, authorities said.
“Our children are not necessarily being grabbed from the street,” Tara McGrath, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. “They are being groomed and recruited online.”
Support facts not fear
News happens fast. In the midst of crime, disasters and other breaking news, the Long Beach Post has reporters and photographers who run to the scene to bring you reliable information. If you value this vital community resource, support it with a tax-deductible donation.
McGrath’s office said the girls were rescued in National City when police pulled over Gaston in a “high-crime area known for prostitution.”
Gaston didn’t have a driver’s license, so when officers refused to let him drive the car he’d been pulled over in, he called someone he said was his “girlfriend” to pick up the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
Officers realized the “girlfriend” was the missing Arizona teenager, and they soon found the second teenager at a hotel where the two were staying, authorities said.
“Selling children for sex is a reprehensible crime that impacts victims for a lifetime,” McGrath said.
She urged people to be on the lookout for warning signs that kids could be vulnerable to predators.
Anyone in need can contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center by calling 888-373-7888 or texting “BeFree” to 233733.