BOSTON – A California man has been arrested and charged with sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl who had been reported missing months earlier.
Ibrahim Abdul-Alim Bin Hajj Yahya Abdul-Malik, 37, of San Jose, was taken into custody on March 10, 2025, in California. He faces charges of sex trafficking a minor and made his initial court appearance in the Northern District of California. He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to court documents, law enforcement received a tip on December 11, 2024, about a minor being advertised for commercial sex acts in the Boston area. The girl had been reported missing from Ohio in August 2024. Investigators discovered online advertisements featuring her photos and a phone number used to arrange meetings. Undercover officers responded to one of the ads and set up a meeting at a hotel in Cambridge, where they found the victim and seized her phone as evidence.
Further investigation revealed that Malik had allegedly been trafficking the victim across multiple states since at least November 13, 2024. Authorities say he posted advertisements for her on different websites and altered her age to 20 in an attempt to avoid detection.
Messages found on the victim’s phone allegedly show Malik directing her to engage in commercial sex acts and instructing buyers to send payments to a Zelle account he controlled. After receiving the payments, he reportedly kept all the profits.
Following the December 11 undercover operation, Malik immediately left the Boston area and took a 6 a.m. flight to San Jose the next morning.
The charge of sex trafficking of a minor carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. If convicted, Malik could also face a fine of up to $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release. His sentence will be determined based on federal sentencing guidelines.
