Man accused of trafficking teen girl back in custody

He had been released without bail in 2022 case

OAKLAND >> A Richmond man who was out on bail while facing charges he trafficking a 14-year-old girl is back in custody facing gun charges after someone reported witnessing him beat a sex worker, according to court records.

Algernon Steen, 31, was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts carrying a concealed weapon, all felonies, in connection with the Feb. 28 incident. The charges add to a separate case from 2022, charging Steen with human trafficking of a minor, court records show.

Around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28, a 911 caller reported to Berkeley police that a man had a gun on him and was beating a woman on the 2300 block of Prince Street. Police responded and found Steen with three women, two of whom originally had been charged with accessory in his human trafficking case, court records show.

Police arrested Steen, and prosecutors charged him only with having a gun allegedly found in his vehicle, not with attacking the woman. Steen's bail has been set at $520,000 for the human trafficking case and $70,000 for the gun case, jail records show.

At Steen's July 2022 preliminary hearing, the 14-year-old girl testified that Steen became her pimp after she ran away from home. She testified that Steen — as well as the woman Steen was allegedly seen beating Feb. 28 in Berkeley — drove her to various high-prostitution areas in Los Angeles, Vallejo, Oakland and other parts of the Bay Area.

The girl testified that Steen — who was twice her age during the alleged offenses — was a “wonderful person” who would “make me laugh or smile at the worst moments.” But she said she came away from the experience feeling horrible.

“You feel like you don't got nobody. Like it is just you. You never know what's going to happen to you. You never know if you are going to die. You never know what's going to happen,” the girl testified. “You never know if you are going to get kidnapped. And I feel like all this experience, I feel like it is a lesson learned and I felt like this, it is not for me.”

Steen was released without having to post bail but given a GPS monitoring device after the charges were filed in 2022. He got into trouble last year for allegedly leaving his home when he wasn't supposed to but wasn't jailed over the issue, court records show.