YouTube rapper arrested in human trafficking case as police seek more victims
Officials are seeking victims of human trafficking linked to a YouTube rapper from Los Angeles who was arrested last week on charges of pimping and pandering an Orange County woman.
Angel Ortiz Diamond, 31, was charged with one felony count of pimping and one felony count of pandering. Diamond, who goes by the name Benjiboy Staccs and managed a YouTube account under the same name, pleaded not guilty to both charges in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday.
The Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force opened an investigation into Diamond after getting a tip from a relative of the 18-year-old victim. Investigators think Diamond, who officials said posted videos to YouTube “with songs glorifying the pimping subculture,” used social media to meet young women in clubs and lure them into sex-related work.
Diamond was booked into the Orange County Jail and remains in custody. He is due in court Thursday for a pretrial meeting and a scheduled preliminary hearing next week.
Anyone with information relating to the human trafficking case is asked to call the Anaheim Police Department at (714) 765-1829.
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