Winchester Sex Trafficker Trial: Jury Selection Underway

WINCHESTER, CA — Jury selection got underway Monday for the trial of a convicted sex trafficker accused of cornering a Winchester girl riding her bike and trying to persuade her to work for him as a prostitute.

Isaac Symeon Bragg, 43, of Hemet was arrested in April following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.

Bragg is charged with false imprisonment, attempted human trafficking, felony annoyance of a child and a sentence-enhancing allegation of targeting a vulnerable victim while on probation.

The defendant's case was transferred Friday from the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta to the Riverside Hall of Justice, where Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro ruled on motions and briefs from the prosecution and defense regarding trial scheduling, witnesses and evidentiary concerns.

Panels of prospective jurors were summoned to the downtown courthouse Monday for screening as to their availability and qualifications.

Bragg is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Joshua Hephner, on the afternoon of April 20, the victim, identified only as a Winchester teen, was riding her bike in the 31000 block of Manford Drive, near Leon Road, when the defendant allegedly stopped his four-door Mercedes sedan and blocked the street, preventing her from passing.

Hephner alleged Bragg "asked the juvenile several inappropriate personal questions, which made her extremely uncomfortable."

"The juvenile was eventually able to ride away on her bike and fled to a nearby shopping center, where she called her parents for help," the sergeant said.

He said the girl and her parents filed a report with the sheriff's department, and detectives initiated an investigation that led to the identity of the driver of the Mercedes -- Bragg.

Investigators learned the defendant was a registered sex offender and had been federally convicted of trafficking a minor for sex, for which he was on probation.

"Based on the investigation, it appears he was attempting to recruit this juvenile for purposes of sex," Hephner said.

On April 25, detectives served a warrant at Bragg's residence in the 22000 block of Soboba Road, resulting in the seizure of "items of evidentiary value to support his actions of sex trafficking," the sergeant said.