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Alex Matthew Polidore, a 23-year-old man from Hawthorne, has been arrested and charged with human trafficking after investigators with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) located a missing 17-year-old girl in Los Angeles, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
The investigation began after the Irvine Police Department reported the teen missing and possibly being exploited. OCHTTF investigators launched an immediate search, ultimately locating the victim and arresting Polidore.
Polidore remains in custody at the Anaheim Police Department Detention Facility on $1 million bail and has been formally charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
This case highlights the ongoing commitment of the OCHTTF and its partners to identify, protect, and support victims of human trafficking while holding offenders accountable.
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 s*xually 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.
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