Long Beach
Police Department

A human trafficking investigation has led to the recovery of two female juveniles reported as missing persons, the arrest of one adult suspect, and the issue of an arrest warrant for a second adult suspect.

On September 16, 2020 an arrest warrant was issued for 23-year-old Semaj Kelly, a resident of the City of San Bernardino. On September 18th, detectives from the Long Beach Police Department’s Vice Investigations Section arrested Kelly and he was booked on one count of Human Trafficking of a victim under 18-years-old and was held on $175,000 bail.

A second arrest warrant was issued for Marcus Jones, a 27-year-old resident of the City of Los Angeles, who is currently in federal custody for unrelated drug charges.

The events began on February 20, 2020, when detectives initiated a missing person’s investigation, later determined to involve the prostitution of a minor. Detectives received information that the minor was being trafficked in the City of Montclair and subsequently arranged to meet the minor at a location where detectives later recovered the victim on March 10, 2020. Over the course of the investigation, detectives learned the victim was forced to perform prostitution acts for two different sex traffickers; Jones and Kelly. Further investigation also revealed an additional juvenile-trafficking victim of Jones who was later recovered by detectives on March 13, 2020.

The two female juveniles, ages 15 and 16, were listed as missing persons from Long Beach and Los Angeles, respectively.

The victims who were identified by detectives were provided with victim-centered services through the Los Angeles County First Responder Protocol for Sexually Exploited Children.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to call the Long Beach Police Department's Vice Investigation Detail at (562) 570-7219.