A 16-year-old girl was being used as a sex slave by two 18-year-olds who were arrested in a Stanislaus County by detectives with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Task Force.

On Sept. 8 they arrested Braden Groves of Turlock and Emilio Barrera of Patterson.

Detectives identified the juvenile victim, who was from Anaheim, on Sept. 3 and their investigation led them to Groves and Barrera. Detectives learned the two had made multiple trips to Southern California, Sacramento and several Bay Area cities, including Oakland, where they trafficked the juvenile and adult victims for commercial sex in exchange for money.

In the early morning hours of September 8,

Detectives tracked down Groves to a motel room in Oakland on Tuesday, Sept. 8 where the juvenile victim was safely recovered and released into the care of Child Protective Services.

Barrera was arrested later that day in Turlock.

During the investigation and arrests, detectives seized more than $11,000 in cash.

Groves and Barrera face charges of human trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Both remain in custody, with bail set at $900,000 each.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact Stanislaus County Area Crime Stoppers through stancrimetips.org or call 1-866-60-CRIME.