A 23-year-old felon suspected of sexually trafficking a 17-year-old girl and kidnapping her infant child was arrested, Long Beach police announced Wednesday.
Long Beach Police Department officers responded at about 8:15 p.m. Saturday to the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Hill Street on reports of dispute.
The officers spoke to the 17-year-old girl “who they believed was a victim of human trafficking” and determined that Antonio Lettmen of Los Angeles had taken her child and demanded a ransom.
LBPD Night Vice Investigation Unit personnel investigated the matter and were able to recover the child, according to police. No further details were released.
During the course of the investigation, police determined Lettmen had trafficked the 17-year-old woman and assaulted her.
Police officers and investigators found Lettmen on Monday in a vehicle near his residence in Los Angeles and took him into custody without incident, according to an LBPD statement.
Police searched the car and Lettmen’s residence and uncovered a semi-automatic firearm and “additional evidence pertaining to the human trafficking of the 17-year-old minor.”
Lettmen was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Tuesday for commercially sex trafficking a minor with violence, kidnapping for ransom, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.
Lettmen was being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility on $2.035 million bail.
