Vallejo police arrest pimp, rescue 12-year-old trafficking victim
(Photo courtesy Vallejo Police Department; Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
A 19-year-old Vallejo was arrested this week after police say he was caught trying to pimp out a 12-year-old girl.
On Wednesday, police say they received a call from the victim with information that indicated she was being forced into human trafficking at a hotel along the 400 block of Fairgrounds Drive.
When officers arrived at the hotel, they spotted the girl returning to the business with a Vallejo resident named as Fidel Rodriguez-Navarette.
Authorities say Rodriguez-Navarette surrendered when confronted, and the victim was rescued without further incident.
The victim told officers she was forced into human trafficking multiple times by the suspect over the course of several weeks, according to police. Based on this information, officers executed a search warrant at the hotel where they were staying and allegedly recovered evidence of human trafficking.
Rodriguez-Navarette was booked into the Solano County jail on multiple felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon.
“I applaud the juvenile survivor for having the courage and fortitude to call for help,” Shawny Williams, the chief of police in Vallejo, said in a statement. “All the credit for stopping this human trafficker belongs to her. Human trafficking is an evil and egregious assault against humanity and the human dignity of its victims.”
Williams said it was the moral duty of the community “to hold perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable,” and said the alleged crimes were further proof that there was a need for “victim advocacy, support and prevention in the City of Vallejo.”
“The fact that a child victim has to be subjected to sitting on a cold police bench following a traumatic incident is unacceptable,” Williams said. (It was not clear from the press statement why the victim was not provided different accommodations during the investigation.)
“We must take action immediately to protect the most vulnerable members of our community and answer the call to create safe spaces where victims can receive the trauma-informed care and support they so desperately need,” Williams said.
Police are continuing to develop a case against the suspect and ask those with information about this incident or others to contact officers at 707-648-5430.
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