A human trafficking sting in Compton resulted in 39 arrests and the rescue of a 13-year-old girl, authorities said last week.
The girl was released to the care of the Department of Children and Family Services at the conclusion of the human trafficking operation, which was conducted on November 15 by the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, along with deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Compton Station.
Two women arrested identified as adult sex workers who solicited undercover deputies for various sex acts, authorities said. Sixteen additional females were arrested on suspicion of loitering for the purposes of prostitution, authorities said.
Each of the females were offered victim-centered services from the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, and eight of the females were identified as victims of human trafficking and accepted ongoing services, authorities said.
Seventeen of those arrested were men who solicited undercover sheriff’s deputies for various sex acts, authorities said. Those men were booked at the Century Regional Detention Facility.
Additionally, four men — 18-year-old Alex Smith of Los Angeles, 22-year- old Roderick Bell of Carson, 19-year-old Marcus Beroit of Hawthorne and 33- year-old Tahji Tarpley of Long Beach — were each arrested on felony charges of pandering after they separately attempted to have an undercover sheriff’s deputy work for them as a commercial sex worker, authorities said.
