The girl was 16 when she met Mark "P-Mac" McGlover in Southern California last year.

He showered her with compliments, alcohol and drugs, and she became infatuated. But he also beat her and forced her into prostitution, according to federal court papers.

And on Valentine's Day this year, McGlover persuaded her to run away from home, the papers say.

The teen was taken from the Los Angeles area to San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Tacoma and Seattle and forced to turn tricks, court papers say. When she tried to escape, court papers say, McGlover pummeled her and put a knife to her cheek. It wasn't until August, when the pair had returned to Los Angeles and police were called to break up one of their fights, that the girl was finally free.

McGlover, 24, was charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle last week with two counts of sex trafficking of a child. He faces up to 40 years in prison and is being held in a Los Angeles-area jail.

Seattle police say cases such as McGlover's aren't uncommon. Lt. Eric Sano, who oversees the department's vice unit, said officers often see teenage prostitutes soliciting on Aurora Avenue North. Many pimps, he said, have the teens working a circuit — traveling from Seattle to Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and California for work.

"These are the girls we want to save, or get to before they get any more damaged," Sano said. "You're looking at kids who are 13, 14 or 15. They're being exploited, they're being seduced by some of these pimps."

Sano said pimps will promise girls a life filled with travel and comfort. Instead, the girls often parade Aurora Avenue North, from the city of Shoreline to Denny Way, looking for customers. They call dilapidated motels their home.

If police catch the teens, they try to reconnect them with their families or take them to Spruce Street Secure Crisis Residential Center, on First Hill, for help.

"These guys are amateur psychologists," said Seattle Police Detective Harvey Sloan, who handles human-trafficking cases. "They can see a girl walking down the street and know if she is a candidate they can recruit or not."

McGlover zeroed in on insecure teens who sought compliments and needed to feel loved, Sloan said.

"This guy was especially bad because he specialized in young girls," Sloan said. "Young girls command a higher price than older girls."

While Sloan thinks McGlover forced several girls into prostitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office has charged him in only two cases. Police in Seattle and in Los Angeles are still investigating, and federal court papers say there are reports he had three or four girls working for him.

Another 16-year-old girl told authorities that in August, McGlover approached her in Tacoma and persuaded her to get into his car, according to federal court papers. The girl said she tried to get out of the car when she learned he was a pimp, but McGlover reportedly slapped her and pulled her hair, court papers said.

The girl told police she was driven to a Kent motel room and that McGlover threatened to hurt her if she didn't do as he said. Four days later, she started working as a prostitute — and was forced to give McGlover all of her earnings, court papers say.

This girl, whose identity is not being revealed by police, told officers she was forced to work in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and New York, court papers said. She told police she was forced to work seven days a week and earned about $1,000 a day.

Sloan said both girls are getting mental treatment in California.

"A lot of times it just takes a strong desire to better themselves," he said. "To get out of the life."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Original link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003340591_childtraffick03m.html