Katie 
Vice Detectives with the Long Beach Police Department began an investigation into possible child sex trafficking on August 13 after a meeting had been scheduled.
Detectives received the girl's permission to search her cell phone and obtained information concerning two other victims that were being trafficked and information concerning the identity of the individual the girl identified as a pimp.
The other two victims were recovered, one the following day on August 14, and the third on August 26. The girls were 15, 16, and 17 years old and had been reported missing from Long Beach, San Bernardino, and Hemet, California respectively.
After their recovery, they were provided with services through the Los Angeles County Law Enforcement First Responder Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children.
During the course of the investigation, detectives obtained information that led them to believe one of the girls may have been trafficked across state lines.
On August 28 the accused pimp, 32-year-old Mycal Brandon Ruff of Carson, California was arrested and charged with three counts of false imprisonment and human trafficking. He was released from custody on August 31 after posting $450,000 bond. It is not known when he is scheduled to appear back in court.
It wasn't until September 3 that his suspected accomplice, 21-year-old Dezere Renee Romero of San Bernardino, California was arrested. She was charged with three counts of human trafficking and one count of prostitution for her role in helping Ruff to "manage" the girls. She remains in custody in lieu of $470,000 bond. She is due to appear in court on September 14 for the prostitution charge and then on September 18 for the human trafficking charges.
The Long Beach Police Department is asking that anyone with information regarding this investigation call the Long Beach Police Department’s Vice Investigation Detail at (562) 570-7219.
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