A 37-year-old Oakland man was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years to life in prison for trafficking a 16-year-old girl for prostitution across three Southern California counties, prosecutors said.

Rufus McNeely was also sentenced for his role in pimping another woman in El Monte, prosecutors said. He was convicted of the charges in July, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said McNeely pimped out the 16-year-old in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties for weeks after luring her away from her home in Oakland in September 2013. The girl eventually called police and reported what was happening, leading to McNeely’s arrest that October, authorities said.

At the time, prosecutors said, McNeely was also being investigated in connection with pimping a woman in El Monte in 2012. His involvement with the teen and other new evidence helped prosecutors charge him in connection with the El Monte case, according to the district attorney’s office.


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