Teen trafficked in Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami. Now she’ll return home – to Fresno

A 16-year-old girl who ran away from her Fresno home and was trafficked all over the country will return home after being taken into protective custody in Fairfield, police reported.

The teen was contacted by a Fairfield police officer on Oct. 27 when the officer spotted a prostitute on Texas Street. The officer spoke with her and learned she may be a victim of human trafficking, turning the case over to the department’s Bureau of Investigations and Family Violence Unit.

The girl told a detective that in four years she was trafficked in Oakland, San Jose, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, police reported in a news release.

Through conversations with the girl, detectives identified her most recent pimp and pinned down where the two were living. Investigators served a search warrant on Utah Street in Fairfield and found 38-year-old Leshone Johnson, of Fairfield, who was the man identified as the girl’s pimp.

Johnson was booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of pimping, pandering, oral copulation of a person under 18, having sex with a minor and human trafficking of a minor. He remains in Solano County Jail on $180,000 bail.

Solano County Child Welfare took the victim into protective custody so she could return home, police said.

“This young victim was just one of millions of people being trafficked for sexual purposes,” police said in the news release. “As a result of the patience shown by our officers and detectives taking the time to talk with her, we can say that today there is one less victim being trafficked.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Teen trafficked in Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami. Now she’ll return home – to Fresno."