NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASED BY:
Public Information Officer Sgt. Matt Sutter
Anaheim Police Department
Contact: 714-321-6807
Public Information Officer Kimberly Edds
Orange County District Attorney’s Office
Contact: 714-504-1917
A CONVICTED FELON WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING AFTER
INVESTIGATORS LOCATED & RECOVERED A MISSING MINOR
ANAHEIM, Calif. (May 5, 2025) – A 23-year-old Hawthorne man has been arrested by Orange County
Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) Investigators and charged by the Orange County District
Attorney’s Office for human trafficking after OCHTTF Investigators recovered a 17-year-old girl who
was reported missing from Orange County.
On April 28, 2025, OCHTTF Investigators received information from the Irvine Police Department
regarding a 17-year-old girl who was reported missing from her Irvine residence and was possibly
being exploited for purposes of commercialized sex. The OCHTTF assumed the case, immediately
launched a human trafficking investigation, and began searching for the missing girl.
On April 29, 2025, OCHTTF Investigators located the missing girl and her trafficker, 23-year-old Alex
Polidore of Hawthorne, together in Los Angeles. OCHTTF Investigators arrested Polidore and
ultimately booked him into Anaheim Police Department’s Detention Facility for a parole violation and
several human-trafficking-related offenses.
On May 1, 2025, prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office HEAT (Human
Exploitation and Trafficking) Unit charged Polidore with PC 236.1(c) – Human Trafficking of a Minor.
Polidore remains in custody and is being held in lieu of $1,000,000.
This investigation illustrates the commitment of the OCHTTF and its partnering agencies in locating
and identifying victims of pimping or human trafficking. The Anaheim Police Department and
Waymakers co-chair the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. The lead agencies for theORANGE COUNTY HUMAN TRAFFICKING TASK FORCE
425 S. Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim, CA 92805
FAX: (714) 765-7969
Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force also include the California Highway Patrol, Garden
Grove Police Department, Irvine Police Department, Santa Ana Police Department, Orange County
District Attorney’s Office, Orange County Probation Department, Orange County Social Services
Agency, The Salvation Army, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For
more information about the OCHTTF, visit https://www.ochumantrafficking.com.
A critical component of the OCHTTF is the OCDA’s HEAT Unit, which targets perpetrators who
sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers,
and human traffickers. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution, to bring justice
for victims of human trafficking and hold perpetrators responsible using Prop 35; Education, to provide
law enforcement training to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources from
public-private partnerships to raise public awareness about human trafficking and provide assistance
to the victims; and Publicity, to inform the public and send a message to human traffickers that this
crime cannot be perpetrated without suffering severe consequences.
Under the law, human trafficking is described as depriving or violating the personal liberty of another
person with the intent to affect a violation of pimping or pandering. Pimping is described as knowingly
deriving financial support in whole or in part from the proceeds of prostitution. Pandering is the act of
persuading or procuring an individual to become a prostitute or procuring and/or arranging for a person
to work in a house of prostitution.
If you, or anyone you know has been a victim of human trafficking, you can contact the National Human
Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at (888) 373-7888 or contact your local law enforcement
department.
Alex Matthew Polidore
