A Ventura County man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he labor-trafficked a 14-year-old boy by allegedly making him prepare hundreds of items of clothing for re-sale online and taking the teen’s cell phone so his family could not contact him, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Brandon Holguin, 26, of Thousand Oaks, is charged with one felony count each of child stealing, human trafficking, child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, furnishing a minor a controlled substance, employing a minor during unauthorized hours and false personation for a written instrument. according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Holguin — who allegedly targeted the victim at a thrift store four to six months earlier — is accused of taking the boy’s cell phone in early May 2025, selling it and using a false ID to pawn the teen’s jewelry that had been gifted to the boy by his family, obtaining hundreds of dollars in proceeds that were not provided to the teen, who lived in northern Los Angeles County, according to prosecutors.
The defendant allegedly drove the teen to a motel room and furnished him with Adderall so the teen could work late at night to finish the job, but the substance made the boy sick, according to the DA’s Office.
The teen was allegedly abandoned on the side of a Los Angeles freeway in the middle of the night on May 5, 2025, but managed to walk off the freeway to a nearby location, where a 911 call was made and he was reunited with his family that day, authorities said.
Holguin is due back in a Pasadena courtroom June 3 for a pretrial hearing. He could face up to 14 years in state prison if convicted as charged.
“Human labor traffickers frequently target vulnerable children, gaining their trust before isolating them and profiting from the child’s forced labor,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement announcing the case.
“For three terrifying days, the victim’s parents and law enforcement desperately searched for this missing teen, fearing the worst had happened. Human exploitation is unfortunately still widespread in our county in 2026, and our Labor Justice Unit will ensure that anyone who participates in this criminal activity is held accountable. I urge anyone with information about the defendant to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, as this is an ongoing investigation and we are concerned there may be additional victims.”
Anyone who may have been an alleged victim or has additional information about Holguin was asked to contact Detective Salvador Ponce of the LASD at 818-236-4015 or anonymously through LA Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.