Soledad & Salinas Men jailed for Trafficking Minors for Commercial Sex

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Monday, August 20 that on August 14, Judge Andrew Liu sentenced 21-year-old Daniel Amaro of Soledad and 25-year-old Abriam Ibarra of Salinas, to prison for trafficking minors for commercial sex. Amaro pled guilty to 2 counts of trafficking minors for the purpose of commercial sex and received a stipulated sentence of 14 years of 8 months, which is the maximum sentence under the law for two counts of non-forcible human trafficking, while Ibarra, who had a prior conviction for first degree burglary, a strike offense, pled guilty to one count of trafficking a minor for the purpose of commercial sex as well as 1 count of pimping a minor for a stipulated prison sentence of 20 years. Both men will have to register as sex offenders for life.  On February 1, 2018, 15-year-old victim #1 ran away from home and as a runaway she initially met Ibarra who encouraged her to engage in commercial sex acts with promises of making easy money. Within 8 hours of meeting Ibarra, the girl was walking the streets of Salinas, performing sex acts for buyers. Three of these individuals are pending jury trial in September for committing lewd acts upon victims #1 and #2 who were both under the age of 15 at the time, and solicitation for prostitution. Amaro came on the scene and persuaded victim #1 that he would make performing commercial sex acts more lucrative for her by promising her that she would make more money and keep a greater portion of the profits if she worked for him. Victim #1 agreed to go with Amaro who was already trafficking another 15-year-old runaway. Fortunately, only 3 days after she was captured by the defendants, victim #1’s parents heroically rescued her from the backseat of Amaro’s car. They then assisted law enforcement in the arrest of both Amaro and Ibarra as well as rescuing victim #2 from the clutches of these predators. Salinas Police Department Detectives Ruben Sanchez and Gabriel Gonzalez conducted the investigation in this case, and District Attorney Investigator Terri Edwards conducted follow-up investigation. Monterey County District Attorney Comfort Dog, “Odie” and Victim Advocate Alma Sanchez aided the victims and their families throughout the investigation and all court appearances.