Elan Daniel Seagraves, 34, who is also a soccer coach at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento has been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, the sheriff’s department said Friday. was arrested on Christmas Day after the teen contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and said she was sexually assaulted and being forced into human trafficking, the Sacramento sheriff department said in a news release.
The caller reportedly, told deputies she was hiding in the back yard of a home in south Sacramento at the time and that the man responsible for forcing her into performing sex acts for money was waiting for her in a nearby vehicle.
Responding officers found Seagraves in a car with another girl who was also 17. Both girls were victims of human trafficking, authorities said.
Investigators soon learned that the alleged pimp had worked as the boys’ soccer coach at Kennedy High School in Sacramento, as well as a coach and referee for various local youth soccer leagues.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Seagraves also worked as a driver for both Uber and Lyft, according to sheriff officials. He was arrested on pandering, false imprisonment and human trafficking charges. As of Monday he remained in jail. Held on $2 million bail, he is scheduled to return to court January 4.
The brave teen’s escape was captured on surveillance cameras, FOX40 reports.
The 17-year-old girl is seen running down a South Sacramento street in surveillance footage captured before Seagraves’ arrest. She begins knocking on doors for help at 3 in the morning on Christmas. A harrowing situation which Sheriff’s deputy Shaun Hampton said “is actually tough for someone to go to the door and answer for someone like that, because they don’t know if it’s a ruse,” Hampton said.
The fleeing teen knocked on Vihn Ta’s door in South Sacramento.
“She wouldn’t tell me anything that happened,” Ta said.
“She just said she needed help, that somebody was chasing her.”
In the video she is seen darting across Ta’s front lawn, activating his motion sensor light and eventually finding her way the front door.
“I didn’t see no tears in her eye but she was scared,” Ta said.
Ta says she came in, sat on his floor and talked with a 911 operator for about 15 minutes until a sheriff’s deputy arrived.
“She said the guy who trafficked her was having a gun too,” Ta said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Seagraves was arrested while waiting for that girl in a car.
There’s no indication that the list of allegations are connected to Seagraves’ role as a soccer coach or driver, but authorities want to talk to anyone who had interactions with him.
Seagraves also holds a teaching credential and has worked in the past as a substitute teacher and an instructional aide. School district officials, meanwhile, said they were disappointed in Seagraves’ “unacceptable” behavior.
The Sacramento City Unified School District responded to the arrest in a statement.

“We are extremely disappointed in Mr. Seagraves’ unacceptable behavior. While he passed a background check and had no prior offenses when we hired him to coach soccer in our district, we expect more appropriate behavior from someone we trusted to work with our kids. Mr. Seagraves will no longer be allowed to work with our kids in any capacity.”

An Uber official also confirmed that Seagraves had worked as a driver and passed a background check in accordance with state law. He has since been removed from the rideshare service. Seagraves’ Lyft account has also been “immediately disabled,” according to company officials.
Anyone with information regarding Seagraves is asked to contact Sacramento County sheriff’s officials at (916) 874-8002.