SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for multiple counts of pimping, pandering, and trafficking women in Orange and other counties.
Defendant: Deunta Patterson, 28, Bakersfield
Pleaded guilty on Oct. 22, 2018 to the following felony counts:
- (11) Pandering by promise, threat, or violence
- Human trafficking of a minor
- Pimping a minor
- Pandering a minor
- (2) Human trafficking
- (2) Pimping
- (2) Pandering
- Assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury
- Sentencing Enhancement: Inflicting great bodily injury
Sentence: 20 years in state prison
Mandatory registration as a sex offender pursuant to PC 290
Patterson is a human trafficker/pimp who exploits women for financial gain. With the rise in popularity of social media and ease of meeting people on the Internet, many pimps and human traffickers utilize a variety of social media to locate potential victims. Pimps often establish rigid rules that their victims are expected to follow including requiring victims to speak only when spoken to, address the pimp as “Sir” or “Daddy,” assigning seats in the car based on “rank,” and setting daily quotas that the victims are expected to fulfill. The victims are required to turn over all payment they receive for sex acts from sex purchasers to their pimp. Failure to follow these rules can result in deprivation of food and/or physical and/or emotional abuse.
Circumstances of the Case
- Patterson trafficked, pimped, and pandered Jane Doe 3 in 2013 and 2014.
- The defendant pandered 11 additional victims on a popular social media website between September 2015 and July 2016.
- Between May and July 2016, Patterson trafficked, pimped, and pandered Jane Doe 1.
- The defendant posted sexually explicit advertisements of the victim soliciting commercial sex and forced Jane Doe 1 to participate in commercial sex for his benefit in areas of Orange County known for prostitution.
- On July 18, 2016, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) was contacted regarding Jane Doe 1 being a possible victim of human trafficking.
- On July 19, 2016, undercover officers arranged to meet with the victim at a motel in Santa Ana.
Patterson waited for the victim at a motel in Costa Mesa. - During their investigation, OCHTTF officers determined that Patterson assaulted Jane Doe 1 on multiple occasions and forced her to engage in commercial sex against her will.
- Patterson was arrested the same day at the motel in Costa Mesa.
- The defendant possessed a cell phone that contained text messages containing language consistent with pimping Jane Doe 1.
- OCHTTF officers and Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) investigators discovered during their investigation that Patterson trafficked, pimped, and pandered 18-year-old Jane Doe 2 while she was a minor and as an adult, including while the defendant was in custody in Orange County Jail pending charges against Jane Doe 1.
- The crimes against Jane Doe 3 and the 11 pandered victims on social media were also discovered during the investigation.
Members of the OCHTTF and the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Office work proactively to protect women and minors from falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. This case was investigated by OCHTTF, a partnership between Anaheim Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Costa Mesa Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Irvine Police Department, Newport Beach Police Department, OCDA, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Ana Police Department, and community and non-profit partners.
Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Juliet Oliver, HEAT Unit
Proposition 35 and HEAT
To read more about California’s anti-human trafficking Proposition 35 (Prop 35) and the OCDA’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, please visit www.orangecountyda.org and select Human Trafficking Information from the Media Center drop down menu.
