Couple Arrested on Suspicion of Pimping for Young Girls

A Huntington Beach man who told witnesses that he was a former California Highway Patrol officer has been arrested on suspicion of running a prostitution business using underage girls, police said Tuesday.

William Scott Taylor, 49, and his girlfriend, Sandra Mae Johnson, 27, were arrested on suspicion of pimping for young prostitutes, Lt. Michael Biggs said. This went on for at least a year from an apartment in the 200 block of Main Street near the city’s pier, Biggs said.

Taylor was arraigned Tuesday on 15 felony counts involving pandering and pimping charges, Biggs said.

Taylor reportedly told the young women and other witnesses that he had retired as a CHP officer 10 years ago for medical reasons.

Taylor’s employment record could not be confirmed late Tuesday.

According to Biggs, Taylor would befriend runaways and other girls, including some as young as 14. If they needed a place to stay, he would offer his place, which was an upstairs floor that included Taylor’s and other apartments.

“Taylor and Johnson were living together and Taylor had this thing for young girls,” Biggs said.

“He was allowing these young girls to come and stay inside the apartment with him,” the lieutenant said.

Biggs said Taylor would arrange for the girls to have sex with men for fees of up to $700, and more if drugs were part of the arrangement.

As many as five underage females and an adult female prostitute were involved in Taylor’s business, Biggs said.

No drugs were found at Taylor’s apartment and he was not charged with any drug-related offenses, Biggs said.

The apartment is in the same general area depicted in a city-produced videotape showing flophouses, graffiti and cockroach-infested housing on Main Street near the city’s well-known pier.

The videotape was originally produced to provide the City Council with visual evidence of the fading neighborhood and the need for redevelopment.

Taylor is suspecting of paying the girls with both money and cocaine in return for sex with other men, Taylor’s girlfriend and with him, Biggs said.

Police suspect that Taylor and Johnson had been pimping for at least a year at the Huntington Beach address.

Officers said one of the girls told them that Taylor would give her and other young girls who lived with the couple cocaine to “free-base” while at the apartment.

Taylor was picked up Thursday at the Huntington Beach apartment. He was arrested on suspicion of oral copulation with a minor, unlawful sexual intercourse, pandering and pimping. He was also arrested on a charge of possessing a small-caliber, semi-automatic pistol, according to Biggs.

Johnson was arrested Monday on suspicion of oral copulation with a minor, pandering and pimping.

Another man, Neal Douglas Blumberg, 48, of Laguna Beach, who was identified as a customer, was arrested at his residence on suspicion of oral copulation with a minor and unlawful sexual intercourse, Biggs said.

Police discovered the purported upstairs brothel on a tip.

Biggs credited Officer Michael Christ, who developed information from a street informant that a prostitute was allegedly frequenting Taylor’s apartment.

When Christ confronted the woman at the apartment, he also found a 14-year-old girl who was believed to be a runaway. The woman and the runaway, who had a warrant pending on a theft charge, were taken into custody and questioned.

After being detained, the 14-year-old told police that Taylor had given drugs and money to her and two other young girls in payment for sex, Biggs said.

The girl also told police that Johnson would accompany some of the girls while they made their rounds or set up appointments with men.