A man who disappeared during his trial on charges of sex trafficking a young woman and a teenage girl in Los Angeles and Long Beach was arrested Sept. 21 and sentenced Oct. 27 to 74 years to life in prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
Calvin Lane, a convicted sex offender, was out of custody on court-reduced bail when he absconded sometime between Aug. 26 and Aug. 27, with closing arguments set for Aug. 27, prosecutors said. The court found that he had voluntarily absented himself, and the trial went on without him.
On Aug. 28, a jury convicted Lane in absentia of forcible trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act, human trafficking of an adult, pandering of an adult and possession of a firearm by a felon, all felonies, in case 24CJCF04008. The trafficking took place in 2023, the office said.
Lane was found and arrested by the FBI Fugitive Task Force, which included an investigator from the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation.
“Fleeing while on trial for such a serious and egregious crime is a blatant disregard for our criminal justice system,” District Attorney said. “Rather than answer for his actions, he chose to run from accountability.”
Deputy District Attorney Emily Chai of the Sex Crimes Division's Human Sex Trafficking Section prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Long Beach Police Department.
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Nathan J. Hochman
District Attorney of Los Angeles County
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Los Angeles County District Attorney / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
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