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ANAHEIM, Calif. (June 6, 2025) – A 37-year-old Long Beach man has been arrested by the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) and charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for human trafficking after OCHTTF Investigators recovered a 15-year-old victim.
On May 29, 2025, OCHTTF Investigators received information regarding a 15-year-old girl who was being exploited for purposes of commercialized sex in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Within hours of receiving the tip, OCHTTF Investigators recovered the girl in Anaheim and arrested her trafficker after officers conducted a traffic stop on the 91 freeway. The suspect, Placied Vercher of Long Beach, was arrested without incident.
Vercher was booked into Anaheim Police Department’s Detention Facility for several human trafficking-related offenses.
On June 2, 2025, prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office HEAT (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) Unit charged Vercher with PC 266h(b)(2) – Pimping for Prostitute under 16 Years Old, PC 266i(a)/(b)(2) – Pandering with a Minor Under 16 Years Old, and PC 236.1(c) – Human Trafficking of a Minor. Vercher remains in custody and is being held in lieu of $200,000.
This investigation illustrates the commitment of the OCHTTF and its partnering agencies in locating and identifying victims of pimping or human trafficking. The Anaheim Police Department and Waymakers co-chair the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. The lead agencies for the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force also include the California Highway Patrol, Garden Grove Police Department, Irvine Police Department, Santa Ana Police Department, Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Orange County Probation Department, Orange County Social Services Agency, The Salvation Army, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For more information about the OCHTTF, visit https://www.ochumantrafficking.com. A critical component of the OCHTTF is the OCDA’s HEAT Unit, which targets perpetrators who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution, to bring justice for victims of human trafficking and hold perpetrators responsible using Prop 35; Education, to provide law enforcement training to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources from public-private partnerships to raise public awareness about human trafficking and provide assistance to the victims; and Publicity, to inform the public and send a message to human traffickers that this crime cannot be perpetrated without suffering severe consequences.
Under the law, human trafficking is described as depriving or violating the personal liberty of another person with the intent to affect a violation of pimping or pandering. Pimping is described as knowingly deriving financial support in whole or in part from the proceeds of prostitution. Pandering is the act of persuading or procuring an individual to become a prostitute or procuring and/or arranging for a person to work in a house of prostitution.
If you, or anyone you know has been a victim of human trafficking, you can contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at (888) 373-7888 or contact your local law enforcement department.
Placied Vercher