Charges against a 33-year-old man accused of human trafficking of a 15-year-old girl were dismissed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court because federal prosecutors are taking over the case.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Jamaal Neal Curry was charged Nov. 22 by the Orange County District Attorney's Office with human trafficking of a minor and pimping and pandering for a prostitute younger than 16, all felonies, but that case was dismissed Wednesday, according to court records. Curry was arrested in Mission Viejo at Crown Valley Parkway and the San Diego (5) Freeway following a traffic stop by Orange County sheriff's deputies on Nov. 20.
On Tuesday, a complaint for transportation of a minor in interstate commerce for prostitution was filed in federal court in Santa Ana.
According to an affidavit filed by a Homeland Security Agent, Curry was arrested with the victim in the passenger seat of the Chevrolet Cruze the defendant was driving.
Curry told investigators he was on probation in Nevada for pimping and pandering, the agent said.
The victim told investigators she had been working as a prostitute since she was 14, the agent said. She met Curry in Las Vegas through another woman, who saw the victim crying in a casino, according to the affidavit.
The woman introduced the alleged victim to Curry, who allegedly began pimping the teen in Las Vegas. Curry and the teen also had sex multiple times, the agent alleged.
The teen asked Curry to take her to Los Angeles to work as a prostitute there, but she was actually trying to contact her mother, the agent said.
The two set out for Los Angeles, but the plan changed to drive to San Diego. Along the way they stopped at a motel in San Bernardino, where the two had sex again, the agent said.
The two did then go to Los Angeles where they bought marijuana and Xanax. Then they set off for San Diego and along the way were stopped in Mission Viejo, the agent said.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
