Man arrested in suspected pimping at Santa Rosa hotel

A 30-year-old Vallejo man was arrested on suspicion of pimping a 16-year-old girl at a hotel on Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa police said Friday.

Officers involved in a drug investigation at the hotel Wednesday night came across the girl, who initially gave a false name and birth date, Sgt. Terry Anderson said.

The girl eventually admitted her age and said she was involved in prostitution, he said. During an interview with detectives, the girl said she had been forced into prostitution at age 12, and was sent to live at a group home after her original pimp was arrested and jailed, Anderson said.

The girl ran way from the group home and returned to prostitution, he said. An advocate from Verity was called in to assist the girl.

Patrick Emuel Moore III was arrested on a warrant from 2008 and on suspicion of pimping and human trafficking a minor, police said. He was held on $226,000 bail.

Investigators found Moore had numerous previous arrests, including a 2008 case of pimping in which he was convicted of unlawful intercourse with a minor and sentenced to three years in prison, police said.