Man Charged With Kidnapping Girl, 14, From Figueroa And Raping Her

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 30-year-old man made his first appearance this month on charges of kidnapping and raping a teenage girl he nabbed from Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, according to prosecutors.

Bill Lamar Johnson is being tried in Orange County where prosecutors allege he took the 14-year-old girl and brutally attacked her. Johnson was charged Thursday with kidnapping to commit rape, rape and forcible oral copulation of a minor 14 or older, all felonies.

Johnson has not entered a plea. His arraignment is scheduled for March 7 in Santa Ana.

The child was found in the early morning hours June 24 running through a shopping center naked, Irvine Police Department Detective Braden Marks said in court papers.

Johnson allegedly told her while attacking her he was "her pimp," Marks said.

Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, where the victim was allegedly taken from, is a notorious hub for human trafficking, including the trafficking of minors.

In September, a multi-agency task force involving FBI agents and social workers announced an effort to take on a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street in Los Angeles known for the human trafficking of children and vulnerable young adults in the county's foster system.

City, county and federal officials announced the initiative at a downtown Los Angeles press conference, offering stomach-churning examples of depravity taking place in the heart of Los Angeles.

The Figueroa Corridor area is ground zero for human trafficking, and victims are abused and exploited there every day,” former United States Attorney Martin Estrada said at the time the taskforce was announced. “It is imperative that we take an all-hands approach to stop the human trafficking happening right in our backyard.”

"You don't need to look to some far-off country to find it," added Estrada. "It exists right here ... a short distance from downtown Los Angeles and a stone's throw from USC."

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto described "appalling" street scenes witnessed during a recent night-time ride-along with Los Angeles police.

"Women and girls in various states of undress and a specific stroll for kiddies -- a kiddies stroll," she said. "In the daytime, it was nearly as bad."

“Often, people think of human trafficking as something that happens only in other countries, but it happens in our own City,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Citing recent cases involving the trafficking of an 11-year-old child and another involving a pimp who branded his moniker onto the faces of trafficking victims, officials vowed to stamp out the notorious Figueroa human trafficking trade by helping to free victims, seeking maximum penalties against pimps, and penalizing customers and the motels that profit from the trade.

Last month, law enforcement officials statewide conducted a weeklong human trafficking sting, arresting 550 people. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, 333 suspected exploiters were arrested. During the sting, 11 minors rescued from possible exploiters were placed in protective custody and will receive support from the Department of Children and Family Services, authorities announced.

City News Service contributed to this report.