SAN ANTONIO – A local man is accused of taking advantage of two runaways and forcing the underage girls to work in the sex trade.
Arrest documents obtained Friday are shedding more light on the events that led to the arrest of 24-year-old Rakim Ahmaad Sharkey for trafficking of a minor.
According to the affidavit, police said in late September, two minors ran away from a rehabilitation center in San Antonio.
Investigators said that day the girls were walking downtown and took a bus to North Star Mall to do shopping. Investigators said the girls then met two men and one of them Sharkey.
Police said the men wasted no time putting the girls to work. The mother of one of the victims then went to police to get them to safety.
"This case started off as a missing persons case where a mom called and stated that her daughter wasn't allowed to leave. So what happened is that, uh, she, mom called a friend, and asked for this friend to pick up the (girls)," said San Antonio Police Officer Carlos Ortiz. "The (girls) confessed to police officers that they were basically being pimped out and prostituted out."
Later the same day the girls met the men and they took a cab to a Northeast side motel where police said the suspects took their money and got them a room.
One of the men told the girls he could help them make money.
An adult woman who was there with the girls told police a man called "Rocky" had forced them into prostitution for about a week.
Investigators say he and his accomplice, called "Blue," took pictures of the girls and then posted ads online for "dates."
Police found "Blue" and arrested him in early December. He gave up his partner as Sharkey.
Using a photograph, the girls said he was right. During a "perpwalk" on Thursday evening, Sharkey told reporters he's innocent.
Police said there could be more victims.
"SVU wants anybody else who may have been a victim from this gentleman to come forward. So, this suspect is being arrested tonight. He may have done this to more females," said Ortiz.