A Santa Barbara County Superior Court jury has returned guilty verdicts in the first human-trafficking jury trial in county history, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Brannon Lawrence Pitcher was found guilty Monday of two counts of human trafficking of a minor, along with the special allegation that he used force, fear, fraud, deceit and violence while trafficking a 16-year-old girl, according to Deputy District Attorney Von Nguyen, who prosecuted the case.
Pitcher also was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine, and 73 counts of disobeying a court order.
Nguyen was reticent to give details about the crimes since a sentencing date has not yet been set.
She did say that the human-trafficking crimes occurred between May 2013 and August 2013, and again from Nov. 1, 2013, to Nov. 30, 2013, when Pitcher continued to traffic the girl from behind bars after his arrest on Aug. 22, 2013.
Pitcher, who is not from the area, brought the girl, also not a local, to different cities throughout California, including Santa Barbara, she said.
The victim did testify and take the stand during the jury trial, Nguyen said.
District Attorney Joyce Dudley released a statement on the case Monday, calling child sex trafficking a “silent but pervasive problem in all communities across our nation,” which leaves victims to suffer the psychological and physical impacts.
In addition to the work of her office, Monday’s jury verdict was a result of the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Santa Barbara Police Department, Dudley said.
“The evidence that became public during this trial confirms the fact that human trafficking is occurring in the County of Santa Barbara,” Dudley said, adding that anyone with information about victims of human trafficking should call 9-1-1.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.