Hemet - Human trafficking arrest and recovery of three victims

On Thursday, January 18, 2018, at approximately 4:45 PM, a sergeant from the Hemet Police Department conducted a vehicle check of an occupied vehicle parked near the intersection of Gilmore St. and Acacia Avenue. The vehicle check was related to suspected prostitution activity recently observed by the sergeant along W. Florida Avenue. During the check of the parked vehicle, two females were detained while actively engaged in the performance of a sexual act with the male driver of the vehicle. That driver was later identified as Luis Chavez-Avila, (30), a resident of San Jacinto. Further investigation by the sergeant and assisting Hemet P.D. officers confirmed this to be an act of prostitution. The two females suspected to be involved in the prostitution were identified as an 18-year-old and 15-year-old juvenile, whose identities will not be released. The juvenile was a recently reported runaway out of the Hemet Sheriff’s Station.

Hemet Police Department officials contacted the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force to assist with the investigation. It should be noted that the Hemet Police Department is a part-time participant on the RCAHT Task Force, collaborating on specific trafficking cases as well as participating alongside the task force in joint proactive enforcement operations within the city of Hemet. RCAHT investigators responded to the Hemet Police Department to conduct interviews and collect evidence. Interviews with Hemet PD and RCAHT investigators identified Marvonte Dolberry, 22, as responsible for pimping and trafficking the two female victims.

Luis Chavez-Avila	Marvonte Dolberry

Within the hour, Hemet Police officers located and arrested Dolberry at a nearby motel in the 800 block of West Florida Avenue. In the accompaniment of Dolberry at the motel at the time of his arrest was another male subject along with an additional 15-year-old female, believed to also be a victim of sex-trafficking.

The juvenile victims in this case were taken into protective custody by law enforcement and ultimately released to their parents.  Dolberry was arrested and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning for human trafficking, human trafficking of a minor, pimping, pandering, oral copulation with a minor and unlawful sexual intercourse. Dolberry remains in custody with bail set at $85,000. Avila was arrested and released with his signed promise to appear for charges of loitering for prostitution. The investigation into the additional male that was detained in the accompaniment of Dolberry is on-going. Should it be later determined this additional person was involved in the sexual exploitation of these juveniles, he will be criminally charged and identified in a future supplemental press release.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2010 to address crimes involving the exploitation of victims via force, fraud, or coercion. These cases often involve the commercial sex trafficking of children, as well as incidents of forced labor, indentured servitude, debt bondage, or slavery. The RCAHT Task Force is a multidisciplinary task force which combines the investigative resources of both local and federal law enforcement. The RCAHT Task Force also provides victim services and education/outreach through partnerships with the non-profit groups Operation SafeHouse and Million Kids.  The law enforcement component of RCAHT is currently composed of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, along with the part-time participation of the Hemet Police Department and Riverside Police Department.

The investigation of this incident is continuing. Anyone with additional information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Deputy Sheriff Daniel Engels at (951) 955-1700 or via email at dengels@riversidesheriff.org.