Charges filed against man for trafficking a 14-year-old girl
–On Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed felony charges against Lucion Lee Edward Banks (35), for Human Trafficking and Pimping a 14-year-old female victim. The defendant is currently held at the San Luis Obispo County Jail with bail set at one million dollars.
Banks is charged with a violation of Penal Code section 136.2(c)(2) which is trafficking of a minor for commercial sexual exploitation while using force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury. He is also charged with a second count of pimping a minor under the age of sixteen years of age. Banks does not reside in San Luis Obispo County and has ties to Sacramento, Oakland, and San Francisco.
The first count carries a maximum sentence of fifteen years to life in state prison and the second count carries a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison.
“We are very grateful for the outstanding work of the San Luis Obispo Police Department Patrol Officer, who, while on an otherwise routine traffic stop, carefully evaluated important clues that pointed towards human trafficking,” said District Attorney Dow. “This is proof that the work of our Anti-Human-Trafficking Task Force and the continuous training of law enforcement has been incredibly valuable in raising awareness for this very important issue. Our community is strongly united in taking an aggressive stand against anyone caught engaging in the exploitation of another human being.”
Banks is currently held at the San Luis Obispo County Jail with bail set at one million dollars and is scheduled to appear for his Arraignment on Thursday in Department 3 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, the Honorable Judge Garrett presiding.
The case is an ongoing investigation of the San Luis Obispo Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation.