The fastest growing group of human trafficking victims in Orange County is children according to a report slated to be released Nov 5, 2025, from the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. (Photo by Getty Images/iStockphoto)
OAKLAND — A 17-year-old girl known in court records as “Jane Doe” had been missing for roughly six weeks when her pictures turned up on an online prostitution advertisement based in the Bay Area, authorities said.
So on Nov. 13, an Oakland police investigator went undercover and responded to the ad, posing as a potential sex buyer, and arranged to meet the teen at the hotel in the 1800 block of Embarcadero in Oakland, court records show. When she showed up, a 31-year-old man was allegedly with her, driving a white Tesla, and carrying a phone that had exchanged communications with Doe more than 1,500 times.
Authorities allege that the man, Melvin Williams, was trafficking Doe, based on an “immense” amount of electronic evidence. Williams was allegedly saved on the girl’s phone as “Daddy,” arranged to give her condoms, and even had a picture of himself on the girl’s phone, driving the Tesla, waving wads of cash. Another text showed Doe asking Williams for permission to use the restroom one day, authorities said.
Now Williams has been charged with three felonies: human trafficking, pandering and soliciting a minor into prostitution, court records show. He was released from jail after his Nov. 13 arrest and has not yet been re-arrested, according to court records. The charges were filed Nov. 25.
Williams’ city of residence has not been listed in court filings, but the criminal complaint says he has three prior convictions from Los Angeles County. Before she went missing, Doe had been last seen in Southern California, according to police.
Originally published at Nate Gartrell