The San Luis Obispo Police department now have four suspects in custody, accused of human trafficking of a teenage girl.
According to SLOPD, officers responded to a call last Tuesday, August 4 at around 1:25 p.m., to a hotel on the 1800 block of Monterey Street in an attempt to locate a possible missing female juvenile from Manteca.
SLOPD had received a call from the Manteca Police Department to report that a 15-year-old girl was being held against her will inside a room at the hotel. Manteca Police also stated the female may also be a victim of human trafficking, and that there may be armed suspects in the room with her.
When officers arrived at the hotel suite, they located the teenage victim inside one of the rooms. Police say she was alone and terrified because of the situation. Police transported her to the police department, where she received the necessary attention by qualified professionals. She was later re-united with her family.
Fabio Bettencourt Silveira
SLOPD detectives learned the victim had been traveling with a 16-year-old male suspect, also from Manteca. It is believed she had been forced into acts of prostitution by the teenage boy in other cities north of San Luis Obispo prior to arriving there. After arriving in San Luis Obispo, possibly around July 25th, the victim continued to be forced into acts of prostitution throughout the County.
The suspects who were also involved in exploiting the victim were Brianna Day Morales, 20, and Fabio Bettencourt Silveira, 20, both of Chico, as well as the 16-year-old boy from Manteca. Morales was seen in a vehicle and taken into custody, while the teen boy and Silveira were caught near the hotel.
The 16-year-old male juvenile, whose identity was withheld, was booked into San Luis Obispo Juvenile Services Center on charges of human trafficking, abduction for purposes of prostitution, false imprisonment and criminal conspiracy.
Elijah Joel Wolfson
Morales was booked into County Jail for human trafficking, abduction for purposes of prostitution, false imprisonment, criminal conspiracy and child endangerment. Her bail was set at $100,000.
Silveira was booked into SLO County Jail for human trafficking , and criminal conspiracy. His bail was set at $70,000.
As this story went to press, a fourth suspect was arrested. 19-year-old Elijah Joel Wolfson of Manteca was also charged with the human trafficking of the 15-year-old girl. He had also been previously arrested in July (failure to appear in court) and May (assault) of this year and in July of 2014 (burglary)
