A youth pastor and counselor appeared before a judge in bond court, charged with one count of living off the earnings of a teenager who worked as a prostitute.
According to a complaint affidavit, Stephen Johnson, 40, met the alleged victim on a social media app when she was 12 years old and selling nude content online.
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Investigators say the girl met someone on the app who she thought was a woman who offered to help her sell more nude content, but that woman was really Johnson.
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According to the complaint, the acts continued until the alleged victim was 17 and flew to Birmingham, Alabama, where the suspect allegedly posted her on escort ads and directed her to engage in commercial sex acts for money.
“He trafficked a minor in another state, your honor, a 17-year-old,” prosecutors said in court.
The affidavit states the two moved to South Florida when the teen got accepted into college and Johnson allegedly continued to force her into prostitution.
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Prosecutors say it happened across several states.
“Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and now Florida and Washington DC,” prosecutors said.
In bond court, prosecutors said Johnson volunteers as a youth pastor at a church and counsels children.
“He volunteers as a youth pastor for youth between the age of 5 and 18 years old in Birmingham, Alabama at a church for the past 12 years,” prosecutors said.
Victor Williams with Quest 2 Freedom, a nonprofit that helps human trafficking victims, says it’s something he sees all the time.
“A lot of people that operate in these places and type of spaces with children turn out to be predators,” Williams said.
Williams says traffickers use different tactics to gain a victim’s trust before exploiting them.
“Pretending to be somebody that they’re not to gain the confidence of these children to get certain information of where they are and convince these children to meet them personally,” Williams said.
In court, Johnson was ordered to stay away from children and stay offline.
