Felon who used teen for sex services sentenced
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A registered sex offender who pimped out a teenager for call girl services in the Riverside metropolitan area and elsewhere was sentenced today to 90 days in jail and two years' felony probation.
Deirdrick Dayvon Bradford, 31, of Rosamond pleaded guilty in November to human trafficking following a preliminary hearing. One related charge was dismissed at the time.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Monday, Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel imposed the stipulated sentence. He initially set the term of incarceration in the county jail system at 180 days, but the term was cut in half after the defendant was given credit for time spent behind bars awaiting disposition of the case.
The judge relied, in part, on a Department of Probation report in determining the appropriate sentence, court minutes indicated.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Riverside Police Department, Bradford met the 16-year-old victim last summer, coaxing her into working for him as a prostitute.
The trafficking operation was uncovered during an FBI investigation that was turned over to the Riverside 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, court papers stated.
"She admitted to being on escort websites, but claimed her mother posted ads,'' the affidavit said.
Her mobile phone was seized, and a search revealed conversations 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 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, police said.
Detectives ultimately confirmed Bradford was the youth's handler, and he had been trafficking her in Riverside, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In Riverside, the girl was situated near the Tyler Mall to perform services, police said.
The victim evidently tried to alert Bradford that police were on to him, advising via a phone message to ``delete your Snapchat ... and `go ghost,''' according to the affidavit.
Coordinating with the U.S. Marshals Service, 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 sex offender under state Penal Code Section 290.
