SEATTLE (AP) - A Washington state man was charged with the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl with developmental issues, the U.S. Attorney’s Western Washington Office said in a statement.
Al-Penyo Brooks, 26, started messaging the minor in May on social media and told her he could help promote her in the music industry, prosecutors said Monday, adding that the girl gave Brooks her birth date and told him she was 17.
The charging documents said the girl has the developmental status of a 12-year-old.
Brooks suggested she run away with him after she told him she “felt abused at home,” the charging documents said. He picked her up, evading her guardian to do so, had sex with her and attempted to make her a prostitute, the documents said.
The girl told police she had made it clear to Brooks that she did not want to go into prostitution, the Seattle Times reported.
Seattle police and Pierce County sheriff’s deputies tracked her to an apartment where she had most recently signed into Facebook.
Brooks made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday and is scheduled to appear Wednesday for a detention hearing. It was unclear if Brooks had obtained an attorney.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.