By admin 
PEORIA, AZ (AZFamily) — Peoria police say license plate reader technology helped crack a cross-state sex trafficking case, ending in the arrest of the suspect and rescue of two victims.
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On Sept. 14, Peoria police launched an investigation into a possible child sex trafficking case involving a missing 15-year-old girl. Investigators believed the teen was being sex trafficked and was going to be taken to Florida.
Peoria PD’s Special Victims Unit located the girl in Indio, California, in an area investigators say is known for sex trafficking. With help from Indio police, the girl was safely recovered.
The victim told investigators she was being trafficked and identified the man she was traveling with as Donte Lofton Jr., 32. Indio police tracked Lofton’s rental vehicle and attempted to pull him over, but he fled the state.
Detectives entered Lofton’s rental vehicle into the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system. Within hours, the Arizona Department of Public Safety tracked Lofton’s vehicle to Heber, nearly 400 miles from Indio. Lofton was apprehended before he could flee the state.
During the arrest, investigators say a woman found in Lofton’s car was identified as another sex trafficking victim.
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Lofton was booked into jail on charges of child sex trafficking and sex trafficking. He is currently being held on a $250,000 bond. Investigators say additional charges in California are pending.
Peoria police stressed the importance of license plate reader technology in criminal cases such as this.
“This investigation highlights the importance of interstate coordination and the effectiveness of ALPR technology, which contributed to the safe recovery of two victims and the apprehension of the alleged trafficker. Most importantly, it demonstrates how collaboration and available technology can help protect vulnerable victims and bring them to safety,” the department said in a statement.
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