Antioch man pleads no contest to sex trafficking 13-year-old found beaten in Salinas
An Antioch man pleaded no contest to human trafficking of a minor after a 13-year-old child was found beaten in Salinas, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Marcus Carter, 41, admitted to sexually exploiting the child and has a previous "strike" for a robbery in Alameda County. Due to the state's Three Strikes Law, he now has a second strike and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said.
In April 2021, a 13-year-old Jane Doe escaped to a gas station near Kern Street in Salinas and called 911. The officer who responded saw her with two black eyes and a swollen jaw, prosecutors said. She said that Carter had taken her from Stockton and forced her to engage in paid sex acts with buyers throughout California and Reno, Nevada, for approximately one to two weeks.
Investigators learned that Doe had been taken by Carter on April 3, 2021 and she was forced to do sex work in Antioch, Pittsburg, San Jose, Reno and Salinas, among other cities.
At the time of the child's call to 911, she told officers that Carter and two women were in the area, possibly in either a rental car with Missouri plates or in one of the women's Jaguars. An officer located one of the suspected vehicles with Carter inside it and he was taken into custody.
According to prosecutors, evidence given to them from the victim, local motels, the two female associates, the vehicles and Carter himself--including his cellphone activity--corroborated the child's statements.
Carter is scheduled to be sentenced to a term of 24 years in state prison on September 4, 2024.
Jane Doe was supported through this process by Victim Witness Program Manager Alma Sanchez with the district attorney's office.
If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in commercial sex work, or some other type of labor, call 911 or reach out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.