A Southern California man pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a woman before raping her and abandoning her in the forest.
Leslie Anthony Bailey, 33, of Wilmington, pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking by force and coercion, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
In February 2022, Bailey had been exchanging messages with a woman he met on social media. The woman told Bailey she was in a treatment facility in Los Angeles for fentanyl addiction and was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Bailey offered to pick her up and provide her with fentanyl, court documents said.
On Feb. 5, he picked the woman up from the facility, took her to buy fentanyl pills, then brought her to a Long Beach home where he was living at the time.
The next day, he drove her to an area in Anaheim that was known for prostitution, authorities said.
He told the woman he expected her to engage in sex acts for money and to give him any money she earned from those acts. He promised to give her more fentanyl after she completed the sex transactions.
After engaging in several sex transactions, Bailey gave the woman more fentanyl pills before driving her back to his Long Beach home.
On Feb. 7, the woman tried to leave Bailey’s home, but Bailey stopped her and threatened to beat her up if she tried again, prosecutors said.
Later that day, he drove her to Anaheim for prostitution purposes again before giving her more fentanyl.
The next day, the woman asked Bailey to drive her back to the drug treatment facility. Despite promising to do so, Bailey drove the woman to a remote area in the Angeles National Forest and ordered her out of the car. He punched and kicked her before raping her, according to his plea agreement. He abandoned the woman in the forest before driving away.
He was eventually identified as the suspect involved and arrested for the crimes. He has been in custody since March 2024.
In his plea agreement, he admitted that in March 2023, he used social media to recruit another victim to work for him as a prostitute in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.
Bailey admitted that at times, he used force and threats of force to exert control over her. On April 25, he pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking by force and coercion.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 18. Bailey faces 15 years to life in federal prison.
The case was investigated by several agencies including Homeland Security Investigations, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
