Man faces sex trafficking charges involving 15-year-old girl

Police arrested a 29-year-old man in June on suspicion of child sex trafficking after he transported a 15-year-old girl to Las Vegas from San Diego, according to an arrest report.

Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested Demante Bruce on June 10 during a traffic stop, according to his arrest report. The report alleges that he picked up a 15-year-old girl in May after she ran away from her home in San Diego, after he persuaded her to come to Las Vegas to exchange money for sex with other men.

Bruce first contacted the girl over Facebook when she was 13 and had graphic images of her from when she was that age, the report said.

Throughout May, the girl “completed approximately nine prostitution dates” in Las Vegas and gave Bruce $1,800, according to the report.

In an interview with police, Bruce denied taking the girl from California to Las Vegas.

He faces felony charges of sex trafficking a child under 16, promoting the sexual performance of a child under 14, possessing visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child, child abuse, kidnapping of a child, and living from the earning of a prostitute, according to District Court records.

Bruce has an arrest history in Clark County dating back to 2014, court records show.

He pleaded guilty to felony drug possession with intent to sell in December 2014, and felony burglary and weapons charges in August 2015, court records show. He has an active case for a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, and a separate active case for a charge of drug possession, six counts of possession of documents to commit forgery and four counts of possession of a false identification card.

Bruce remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Thursday with a $25,000 bail, court records show. A hearing in the sex trafficking case is scheduled for Aug. 31.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.