Testimony from a 16-year-old Bakersfield girl will likely send a 32-year-old man to prison for human trafficking. Deputy DA Janae Knallay says Rico Herring seduced the girl online and sent her a bus ticket to be with him.

Knallay says Herring used the victim’s desire for a romantic relationship, which is common in trafficking cases, and then assaulted her and threatened to hurt her sister if she refused to work for him. He’s facing 15-years-to-life at sentencing later this month.