Santa Rosa man sentenced for trafficking girl he called his ‘romantic partner’

A Santa Rosa man was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday for trafficking his underage girlfriend, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said. 

Zander Flores, 20, pled no contest in June to felony counts of pimping, criminal threats and oral copulation with a minor, as well as one misdemeanor count of possession of child pornography. 

The charges stem from Flores' previous "dating relationship" with the minor, prosecutors said. A Santa Rosa Police Department investigation found that Flores had a sexual relationship with the girl and also arranged for her to perform sex acts with people for money in San Francisco. 

"Unfortunately, many of the instances of pimping, pandering, and trafficking of minors we see are perpetrated by those professing to be the romantic partner of the victim," District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement. "This type of exploitation compounds the trauma inflicted on victims, and often further discourages their cooperation with law enforcement."

During Flores' sentencing hearing, the victim "spoke about the trauma she experienced after being used and manipulated by someone she thought loved her," the district attorney's office said. Prosecutors did not disclose when the pimping occurred or how old the girl was at the time. 

Before learning his fate, Flores gave a statement expressing remorse for the harm he caused the victim and her family. Flores will get credit for the year he's already spent in county jail awaiting trial. 

Another man, 23-year-old Rodrico Anthony Lopez Jr., of Santa Rosa, was believed to be involved in trafficking the girl, the district attorney's office said. He pled no contest to felony criminal threats and oral copulation with a minor, as well as misdemeanor possession of child pornography and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Lopez is set to be sentenced in August to a year in prison, with five years and eight months suspended pending the successful completion of his probation. 

Subscribe

Read this story on sfchronicle.com