A South Los Angeles man pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges of sex trafficking two teenage girls along the Figueroa Corridor and attempting to kidnap a woman who had fled his apartment after he allegedly assaulted her.
Derrick Harrison Brooks Jr., 31, of Baldwin Village was arraigned Thursday in downtown Los Angeles on a four-count federal indictment charging him with two counts of sex trafficking children by force, fraud or coercion, one count of distributing controlled substances to a person under 21 and one count of attempted kidnapping, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A trial was scheduled for Dec. 1. Brooks was ordered held without bond by a federal magistrate judge last month.
According to federal prosecutors, Brooks trafficked a 15-year-old girl in November 2025, traveling with her from California to Colorado in his green limousine for commercial sex work.
Brooks allegedly demanded that the girl earn $1,000 a day and physically assaulted her several times, including one attack that caused her to fear for her life.
Prosecutors said Brooks also posted an advertisement for the girl on Craigslist.
The teenager eventually returned to Los Angeles and escaped from Brooks while working along the Figueroa Corridor, a roughly 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles known for prostitution activity, prosecutors said.
In January and February 2026, Brooks allegedly trafficked a second girl, age 17, who also worked along the Figueroa Corridor.
Prosecutors alleged that Brooks physically assaulted the second victim and knowingly distributed Ecstasy to her.
In a separate incident in August, Brooks allegedly assaulted a woman at his Baldwin Village apartment, choking her and punching her in the face.
After the woman escaped to a nearby mobile phone store, Brooks followed her and attempted to kidnap her, according to federal prosecutors.
Brooks was arrested in connection with the attempted kidnapping about two weeks later.
If convicted of all charges, Brooks would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.