More charges filed by SLED in Florence human trafficking case

FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Six new charges have been filed against Jason Roger Pope of Florence who is at the center of an extensive human trafficking case in Florence.

According to booking records at the Florence County Detention Center, Pope faces four new charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor age 11 to 14 and two charges of trafficking in persons.

This is in addition to the other charges Pope is facing including; promoting the prostitution of a minor, kidnapping, three counts of trafficking people, and criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree. Investigators allege Pope solicited a person under 18 for sex trafficking.

Pope is being held at the Florence County Detention Center without bond.

Jason Pope, also known as “DJ Kid”, appearing in court Oct. 14, 2019 on trafficking and child sex crime charges

In mid-October, Pope appeared in court, facing trafficking and child sex crime charges. During that court appearance, Pope’s attorney withdrew a request for a bond hearing. His attorney did not say why.

In early October, authorities announced they believed there were additional victims of Pope.

RAP SHEET & INCIDENT REPORTS

Earlier this year, News13 obtained documents showing Pope’s extensive criminal history in South Carolina, from SLED, dating back to 1995. His run-ins with the law involve the following agencies in South Carolina: SLED, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Florence Police, Hartsville Police, Horry County Police, Georgetown Police, and the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office.

We also got all incident reports from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office involving Pope, from October of 2009 through October of 2019.

All of Pope’s documented arrests in the state, and incident reports from the sheriff’s office, are listed below in chronological order.

December 10, 1995 – Pope was arrested and charged with impersonating an officer, according to his arrest record. He was convicted and given a suspended sentence of one year in jail, plus two years probation.
February 17, 1996 – Pope was arrested and charged with promoting prostitution with a minor. He was convicted and given a suspended sentence of 30 months in jail. The Florence County Sheriff’s Office was involved in this case.
August 2, 1997 – Pope was arrested and charged with assault and battery. He was convicted and received a fine.
January 15, 1998 – Pope was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. He was convicted for both. The trespassing conviction carried with it a fine or 30 days in jail. The other conviction resulted in a fine.
April 17, 1998 – Pope was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. He was convicted and received a fine.
March 27, 1999 – Pope was arrested and charged with forgery and larceny.
December 19, 2000 – Pope was arrested and charged with forgery. He was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail.
September 4, 2001 – Pope was arrested and charged with forgery. He was convicted and given a suspended sentence of five years in jail and probation of two years.
March 12, 2002 – Pope was arrested and charged with obtaining signature or property by false pretenses.
October 5, 2002 – Pope was arrested and charged with the operation of a retail business without a license. He was convicted and given a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail.
May 26, 2003 – Pope was arrested and charged with driving under suspension.
May 17, 2006 – Pope was arrested and charged with malicious injury to personal property. He was convicted but his sentence is listed as ‘unknown’.
October 27, 2006 – Pope was arrested and charged with illegal distribution of recording.
January 19, 2007 – Pope was arrested and charged with the operation of a retail business without a license.
May 4, 2007 – Pope was convicted of illegal distribution of recording and given a suspended sentence of one year in jail, which was converted to two years of probation.
November 14, 2011 – Pope was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a telephone. He was convicted and fined.
December 4, 2011 – The Florence County Sheriff’s Office report states that a deputy was called out to Carolina Hospital, in reference to sexual misconduct. A 13-year-old girl told the deputy that she had sex with Pope, and later found out that he had AIDS. The girl said her friend introduced her to Pope, who was 34 years old at the time. The report says Pope gave the girl marijuana and some money so the girl would have sex with him. She said Pope did not use a condom. A 16-year-old girl told authorities that Pope took both girls back to his residence on Lakeview Drive, where he had sex with them. The 16-year-old said the incident happened on Thanksgiving Day. Both girls told deputies that they were concerned about contracting AIDS because they said Pope did not use a condom. Pope, who was listed as a subject on this report, was not arrested. A box next to the word ‘unfounded’ on the report is filled in.
December 24, 2011 – A woman told deputies that Pope had been constantly calling her and sent her a pornographic text message; report indicates a prior relationship between the woman and Pope.
July 25, 2013 – Pope was listed as the victim in the report that indicates a man stole Pope’s lawnmower as he slept.
September 11, 2014 – Pope was listed as a witness in a stalking case. A woman called authorities to report a man walking in front of her home. She said she was scared of the man because he had mental problems and had become obsessed with her in the past. She told authorities that her neighbor, Pope, identified the man as his friend.
December 17, 2014 – Pope was accused of stealing a cell phone from a man’s home after the man said he had left his door unlocked so his roommate could get in.
October 29, 2015 – A woman who said she was an ex-girlfriend of Pope’s called 911 to report that Pope had been following her in his vehicle. A deputy saw Pope’s vehicle following hers and initiated a traffic stop. Pope told authorities he was following her so he could get his house keys from the woman. She gave Pope the keys and Pope told deputies he would comply with their request not to go near her again.
July 26, 2016 – Pope told deputies a woman’s 14-year-old daughter went into Pope’s car and stole $500.
January 26, 2017 – Pope reported to deputies that someone had broke into his home by kicking in a side door. Pope said his 42-inch flat screen TV had been stolen along with his gold ‘300’ bowling ring.
June 10, 2017 – Pope called 911 to report that he believed two people were planning to break into his home. One of those people was the same woman who called 911 on Pope in 2015 to report that he was following her in his vehicle. The woman, and a man, were arrested for ‘public drunk’.
December 13, 2017 – Deputies were called out for a report of a 16-year-old girl threatening to commit suicide. The girl told deputies she ‘feels like she wants to hurt herself’ because she said Pope, now 40, had been spreading things about her on social media and destroying her life. She said since September 27, 2017, Pope had been paying her for sex and blackmailing her to do sexual acts when she didn’t want to. She said she had cut off ties with Pope weeks ago and he refused to leave her alone. She said he was going to her friends trying to find her. She told deputies most of the sex was consensual but that Pope ‘brainwashed her and took advantage of her’. She said Pope had sexual relationships with ‘a lot of teenage girls age 15-16’. She said those relationships would start off by Pope asking them if they wanted to work, with Pope handing out flyers promoting him being a DJ for parties, and then bribing them with money. The girl said Pope would often tell the girls his dad is a federal judge and he can get away with anything. Deputies were told there was evidence on a phone in which Pope asks for sex and states he will give the person money. Deputies were told Pope often films the sexual encounters with the teenage girls. The phone was logged into evidence at the Florence County Sheriff’s Office. Pope, who was listed as a subject in this incident, was not arrested at the time, according to the report. The administrative section of the report lists the case as administratively closed.
May 23, 2018 – A woman told deputies she had found out that her 15-year-old daughter had been communicating with an unknown older white man via Snapchat and Facebook. The woman said the man seemed to be luring young girls to contact him to win prizes via Facebook. She also said that the man had several pictures of underage girls on his profile on Snapchat and Facebook. The woman said the man was using the name “DJ Kidd69” and “DJ Kid PromoKing”. Pope was listed as a subject on this report, and was not arrested, according to the report. ‘Active’ was marked in the administrative section of the report.
May 27, 2018 – Perhaps the most alarming report is this one, from a family member of Pope’s. This person told deputies that Pope was having sex with minors. The person said Pope is known by the name “DJ Kidd” and pays girls for sex, and then posts about it on social media sites including Facebook and Snapchat. The family member said this type of activity had increased recently, because Pope was at Bike Week. This person claimed to have screenshots of pornographic images that Pope had posted and sent out on Snapchat. This relative said Pope’s actions severely affected this person because he or she knows some of the girls involved in this. The family member expressed suicidal thoughts ‘if something isn’t done to stop this’. The person said Pope sometimes sends sexually explicit messages to this person and indicated Pope hugs the person inappropriately. A deputy viewed some of the photos and indicated that they did appear to be sexually explicit in nature. The deputy contacted EMS in reference to the suicidal thoughts and the person did go to the hospital. The deputy told another family member that the incident would require further investigation. Pope, who is listed as a suspect here was not arrested, according to the report. This report was marked as ‘administratively closed’.
September 13, 2018 – Deputies responded to a phone call about a missing juvenile, believed to be with Pope. Pope, now 41, and the 16-year-old who was reported missing came to the door of Pope’s home. Deputies noted a strong odor of marijuana could be smelled coming from inside the home. Pope told deputies a 14-year-old was also in the home. Deputies note that Pope was read his Miranda rights and agreed to answer questions. Pope told deputies he had some marijuana in his top dresser drawer in his bedroom. After the report says Pope signed a consent to search form, deputies found $500 in a coffee can in the kitchen cabinet and a bag in the top dresser drawer of Pope’s bedroom. The report says the bag contained marijuana and a multi-colored sock that contained six memory cards. The report does not mention anything further about the memory cards. Deputies then seized $1,043 from Pope. Deputies noted on the report that Pope could not provide an investigator with a valid source of income, saying that he was a promoter. Pope was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, according to the report.
September 15, 2018 – Pope was arrested and charged initially with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to his arrest record. He was convicted of two counts of cruelty to children. His sentence for one of them is listed as a fine or jail time.
April 17, 2019 – An employee of a Zaxby’s restaurant in Florence County called deputies to report that Pope had threatened employees. The report states that two of the restaurant’s employees, including a 17-year-old girl, got into an argument. The report says Pope arrived in his vehicle to pick the 17-year-old up. At this time, the two employees got into another argument, at which point Pope allegedly got out of his vehicle and began to yell that he was going to come back and ‘shoot up the Zaxby’s and take care of everyone’. The person also told deputies Pope had called the restaurant several times to harass employees, from both his phone and his mother’s phone. Pope was not arrested at the time of this report.
August 29, 2019 – Pope was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct – 1st degree, kidnapping and trafficking persons or attempts, according to his arrest record.
September 12, 2019 – Pope was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor – 2nd degree, two counts of criminal sexual conduct – 1st degree, promoting the prostitution of a minor, and two counts of trafficking persons or attempts, according to his arrest record.
November 7, 2019 – Pope was charged with four counts of 2nd criminal sexual conduct with a minor age 11 to 14, and two counts of trafficking in persons by SLED, according to arrest records.