Police: Sex registrant advertised teen as prostitute via online classifieds

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A registered sex offender accused of pimping out a teenager for call girl services in the Riverside metropolitan area and elsewhere posted her pictures and other information via internet classified advertisements, arranging for her to meet men near a mall and other places, according to court documents obtained Tuesday.   

Deirdrick Dayvon Bradford, 31, of Rosamond, is charged with human trafficking, possession of child pornography and two counts of pimping of a minor.   

Bradford, who was arrested last month, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Oct. 28. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Melissa Hale scheduled a felony settlement conference for Thursday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $85,000 bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Riverside Police Department, Bradford met the 16-year-old victim, over the summer, allegedly coaxing her into working for him as a prostitute.

The alleged sex trafficking operation was uncovered during an FBI investigation turned over to the police department's Vice Squad in August after agents confirmed the juvenile was from Riverside. By the time detectives interviewed her, she had been placed in a group home for troubled and runaway teens in the city, court papers stated.

"She admitted to being on escort websites, but claimed her mother posted the ads,'' the affidavit said.

Her mobile phone was seized by court order, and a search revealed conversations allegedly involving the teen and a Snapchat user telling her "to send him money -- $150,'' and there were "screenshots (of him) managing the victim's ads on Megapersonals, saying he would `bump' or repost her ad for more visibility,'' according to the warrant declaration.  

Further investigation confirmed the girl's images had been circulated on sex-oriented sites as enticements, including videos of her nude, touching her intimate parts, according to police.  

Detectives ultimately confirmed Bradford was the youth's alleged handler, and he had been trafficking her in Riverside, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In Riverside, the girl was situated near the Tyler Mall to allegedly perform sex services, police said.

The victim evidently tried to alert Bradford that police were onto him, advising via phone message to "delete your Snapchat ... and `go ghost,'" according to the affidavit.

Coordinating with the U.S. Marshals, detectives tracked the defendant down in Phoenix on Oct. 24, where he was arrested without incident. He was immediately extradited to California.

According to the California Megan's Law web portal, the defendant has a prior felony conviction for pimping a minor in 2015, requiring him to register as a convicted sex offender under Penal Code section 290.