Two runaway teens met in foster care near Los Angeles. They ended up in Oakland under control of the same pimp, police say

OAKLAND — It started as a case against a 19-year-old woman who was accused of trafficking a teen girl she met while they were both in foster care more than 400 miles south of the Bay Area.

But now Alameda County prosecutors have shifted their focus, offering a rare opportunity of diversion to a woman who was charged with coercing the girl into the sex trade, and instead focusing their efforts on arresting and prosecuting the 29-year-old Oakland man who was allegedly pimping both the woman and the girl. He has been identified in court records as Denairo Lucky Johnson, and is currently listed as a fugitive.

It all started in early August 2023, when a 16-year-old girl walked into the Oakland Police Department, identified herself as a runaway teen from Southern California, and said after three weeks on the lam she wanted to return home. The girl described meeting the 19-year-old woman years earlier when they were both underage and in the foster care system near Los Angeles County; she said that the woman had purchased her a ticket to come to Oakland after she ran away.

Once there, the woman informed her that she was now the girl’s “godmother,” and would show her the ropes of the sex trade. The girl told police that the woman told her Johnson was to be her pimp, but that because she was a minor, he wanted as little direct contact with her as possible. Instead, he’d tell the girl what to do through the woman, authorities said.

“Whatever (Johnson) says goes,” she reportedly told the girl. On the day the girl turned herself in, she said the woman assaulted her and took her phones to coerce her into getting back into a vehicle with the woman and Johnson.

The girl reported that she also saw the 19-year-old woman being physically abused by Johnson, and evidence of abuse, such as bruises and marks on her face. She was allegedly also threatened with being abandoned in Oakland, a region where she knew no one and had no means of returning back home on her own, according to court records.

Police identified the 19-year-old woman quickly, and prosecutors charged her with human trafficking. It is a serious felony count that typically results in prison time, but the circumstances of the case led to a different outcome.

This news organization is not naming the 19-year-old woman because she’s believed to be a victim of human trafficking, as well as a suspect, and because of her history. Years ago, when she was 13, she was listed as a possibly suicidal missing person, and believed to be with an older man who had assisted her in running away from home, according to published reports. She was eventually found but ended up in foster care before she turned up in Oakland as a sex worker.

Police say they recovered text messages between the woman and Johnson, where he directs her to go on “dates,” accuses her of failing to accurately report her earnings or withholding money from him, and directs her to delete evidence, like incriminating text messages. Johnson was listed in her phone as “Daddy” and “My King,” according to authorities.

Johnson has been charged with human trafficking and recruiting a minor into prostitution, both felonies. As for the woman, her charges are still active, but the diversion program is going as planned. Court records say she was accepted into a mentorship program, re-enrolled in school, and has submitted essays to the court reflecting on her life, including an autobiography.