A warrant has been issued for a 20-year-old man charged with prostituting girls in the Tacoma, Everett and Shoreline areas.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Jevante Taymar McCray on Friday with second-degree human trafficking and four counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. McCray is not in custody, and the warrant lists him as a transient.
Police first began investigating McCray in January after a 16-year-old Puyallup girl called 911 to report he had persuaded her to run away from home and work for him in California. She told police she had been severely beaten in a hotel room because she refused to work for the day.
The teen told police McCray sometimes withheld food and beat her if she refused to do what he told her.
In February, the FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Force found ads on Backpage.com advertising a 14-year-old girl, and an undercover officer made arrangements to meet the girl at a Lakewood hotel. Police found McCray asleep in a car outside.
McCray told officers the girl was the top earner for a pimp he knew. He denied being involved in their business, according to court documents.
He and another man, Isiah Martin, are accused of prostituting at least six underage girls between December 2011 and April. Martin was charged in February with promoting commercial sexual exploitation of a minor and ordered not to have contact with the victims.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
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