Rico Christopher Clayton
SANTA ANA – A pimping felon who kept his all of his victims’ earnings for himself was convicted of pimping and pandering while out of custody on bail for another pimping-related crime.
Rico Christopher Clayton (30) of Carson pleaded guilty on Wednesday to felony counts of pandering while procuring and pimping. His 2016 L.A. County pimping-related case had landed him out of custody on bail.
Clayton set to work recruiting a victim, Jane Doe, to engage in commercial sex for Clayton’s benefit prior to February 8, 2017. He placed her in Orange County areas known for prostitution.
His marketing campaign included posting sexually explicit advertisements of Jane Doe on websites known for soliciting commercial sex.
Then, Clayton kept all of the monies received from sex purchasers for himself.
In the meantime, members of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) contacted Jane Doe through one of the advertisements, and arranged to meet her.
Clayton dropped his victim off at a Fullerton motel to facilitate a meeting with the undercover officer. OCHTTF identified and the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) subsequently charged the in-custody Clayton at Los Angeles for being convicted of attempted pimping and felony criminal threats.
Additional sentencing enhancements for his crime-bail-crime, along with his two prior strike convictions for first-degree burglary in Orange County (2007), bumped up his maximum sentence potential to 14 years in state prison.
Court dockets have him set for sentencing on August 25, 2017 in Santa Ana’s Central Justice Center. Deputy District Attorney Kelly Manley of the HEAT Unit (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) is prosecuting this case.
Members of the OCHTTF and the OCDA work proactively to protect women and minors from falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. This case was investigated by OCHTTF, a partnership between Anaheim Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Costa Mesa Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Irvine Police Department, Newport Beach Police Department, OCDA, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Ana Police Department, and community and non-profit partners.
