J.D. Gallop

FLORIDA TODAY

A 22-year-old Cocoa man was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he coaxed a 16-year-old runaway girl to have sexual relations with multiple men in Brevard for cash after advertising her as a sex worker online.

Kennedy “KJ’ Harris Jr., was charged with sex trafficking of a minor and child enticement and acted as a ‘pimp,’ police reported. Harris could face up to life in federal prison if convicted.

The case unfolded earlier this year after authorities learned that in January, Harris took in a 16-year-old runaway girl from Port St. John, reports show. The federal indictment states that police quickly determined that he fed her addiction to crack cocaine and forced her to prostitute in order to garner money from local Brevard customers.

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“We turned the case over to the feds,” said Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for the Cocoa Police Department, which initially began the investigation.

“There were some other players involved as well, we believed,” she said.

Police learned about the girl from a tip and located her Feb. 10 in a hotel room with Harris and another man, officials reported. The girl was taken for medical treatment and placed in a recovery facility after tests showed she had cocaine in her system, records show.

Investigators said Harris comforted the girl – whom he knew previously - and told her that he would keep her safe, feed her and give her clothes.

Investigators said that Harris then took photos of the underage girl in various suggestive poses and then put them online at Backpages.com to advertise her for sexual services. Police said that she was forced to have sex with four to five customers at an apartment complex in the Cocoa area along with other hotels. She was then made to give Harris the money, investigators said.

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She was paid $150 for each of the sexual contacts, authorities reported.

Harris told one person that the girl was making a lot of money ‘because she looked so young,’ according to the federal indictment which was initially sealed.

Cocoa police initially arrested him Feb. 10 on unrelated drug charges, including possession of cocaine and marijuana possession, records show. He was booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex.

Police later searched through Harris’ cellphone and found numerous text messages from customers, including a price list, reports show. There were also a number of photographs of the girl, reports show.

The case is being prosecuted by federal authorities as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, launched by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The issue of sex trafficking is also one that has garnered interest in the Central Florida area and has been one that has prompted numerous investigations by various agencies.

In addition to the Cocoa Police Department, the Brevard County sheriff’s office, and the FBI investigated the charges.