BOSTON — A California man is accused of trafficking a 17-year-old girl for sex in the Boston area and in other states, after the girl was reported missing from her Ohio home, the U.S. Attorney said.
Ibrahim Abdul-Alim Bin Hajj Yahya Abdul-Malik, 37, of San Jose, Calif., was arrested and charged with sex trafficking a minor, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement on Wednesday.
Abdul-Malik was arrested on March 10 in California and made his initial appearance in a California courtroom, Foley said. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to the charging documents, on Dec. 11, 2024, law enforcement received information that a 17-year-old girl was being advertised for commercial sex acts online in the Boston area.
The girl had previously been reported missing from her home in Ohio in August.
Investigators identified advertisements containing photographs of the victim and a phone number used to use to arrange commercial sex acts with the girl.
Undercover officers responded to the sex ad and the responding telephone number, and “arranged for a commercial sex date at a hotel in Cambridge,” prosecutors said.
There, law enforcement recovered the teenage girl and seized her iPhone as evidence.
A subsequent investigation found that, around Nov. 13, 2024, Abdul-Malik began trafficking the girl in other states, posting commercial sex ads for the girl on various websites, Foley said.
Prosecutors allege that Abdul-Malik falsified the girl’s age on those websites, stating that she was 20, to avoid detection by law enforcement.
During a search of the girl’s phone, investigators allegedly found messages from Abdul-Malik about the girl engaging in commercial sex acts with sex buyers, Foley said.
On multiple occasions, prosecutors allege that Abdul-Malik directed the teenage girl to have sex buyer payments sent to a Zelle account he controlled.
After the sex buyer sent the payment, Abdul-Malik would confirm receipt of the money and keep all of the profits, prosecutors allege.
Abdul-Malik is said to have fled the Boston area immediately after the Dec. 11, 2024 undercover operation in Cambridge. Prosecutors said he bought an airline ticket to fly from Boston to San Jose, Calif. on a flight that departed at 6 a.m. on Dec. 12.
If convicted of the charge of sex trafficking of children, Abdul-Malik faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
If you or someone you know is a victim of commercial sex trafficking, investigators urge you to contact USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW