Tuscaloosa Man Accused of Human Trafficking Three Teens Arrested

After a year on the run, a Tuscaloosa man accused of the human trafficking of three teenagers has been arrested by U.S. Marshals and brought back to the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

According to new court documents filed Thursday, the investigation into 45-year-old Demetrice Undreal McKinney began after the Department of Human Resources reported that he sexually assaulted a young teenage victim in December 2020.

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As the case developed, investigators reportedly found that McKinney acted as a pimp for a trio of girls whose ages ranged from 15 to 17.

McKinney allegedly recruited the girls at a party and told them he wanted them to strip at "private events" held in rooms at the Econo Lodge in Tuscaloosa.

The Tuscaloosa man reportedly supplied drugs to the girls and told them to tell anyone who asked that they were 22 years old.

According to the documents, on one night in December 2020, the victims were made to perform for two men and at least one of them was sexually abused.

McKinney allegedly acted as the victims' "manager" and collected the money given to the girls inside the hotel room.

Surveillance video and other evidence collected from the motel confirmed the account developed by investigators, and in January 2021, agents of the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at McKinney's residence.

They discovered more evidence linking McKinney to the human trafficking allegations, but the man himself was nowhere to be found.

On Wednesday, more than a year after the search warrant was executed, McKinney was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail after he was apprehended by U.S. Marshals.

A police spokesperson was not sure where McKinney was finally arrested, but he remained jailed Thursday afternoon. His combined bond was set at $180,000.

For more updates on this case if they become available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.