A Florence, South Carolina, man was denied bond during a court hearing last week after being charged with human trafficking and sex crimes in August. 

On Monday, Jason Roger Pope appeared in court for a bond hearing, which lasted about 10 minutes when his defense counsel, Rose Mary Parham, announced the intent to withdraw his request for a bond hearing but did not explain the reason behind the withdrawal, WBTW reports.

The 42-year-old man is being held at Florence County Detention Center, according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Pope, a party promoter and local DJ, was arrested on August 29 on three counts of trafficking in persons, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count each of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, promoting the prostitution of a minor and kidnapping, WMBF News reports.

Arrest warrants show that between July 2017 and July 2019, Pope allegedly forced four underaged girls to perform sex acts at his home. One of the girls was reportedly as young as 13. Another alleged victim, a 17-year-old girl, told police Pope gave her money, drugs and/or other items in exchange for sex, WMBF News reports. 

“I suspected a long time ago that things weren’t right over there because of who he had coming in and out,” a longtime neighbor of Pope’s said, the Atlanta Black Star reports. “They looked like they were very young, underage maybe.” 

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) thinks there may be more victims, according to WBTW News 13. 

According to arrest warrants, between Sept. 27, 2017, and Dec. 13, 2017, Pope forced a 16-year-old to engage in commercial sex acts and threatened the victim, identified as J.H., to perform further sexual acts for money and other things of value, authorities said, WMBF reports.

In 2018, Pope was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of two counts of cruelty to children, WMBF reports.

Between July 1, 2018, and Sept. 1, 2019, Pope sexually assaulted a 16-year-old, identified as A.B., and paid the victim for sex acts, according to arrest warrants, WMBF reports. 

Again, around July 7, 2019, the party promoter allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old, identified as S.M., and paid her for sex acts, arrest warrants state, WMBF reports.  

Pope, a white man who goes by DJ Kid, glorified his outlandish behavior through a series of photos on his Facebook page, which remains active, of him with several Black women. It is unclear the age of the women in the photos or if any of them were involved in providing information to police that led to his arrest. 

The Facebook page also lists him working as a street promoter for Def Jam Recordings since 1999, and states that he’s in a relationship. It also states the Florence man, who lives in Sumter, SC, studied at the University of South Carolina and went to CMA [Military Academy]. 

It was through social media that authorities learned that Pope solicited a 17-year-old, identified as T.C. in arrest warrants, for commercial sex acts, and the victim received money and other things of value from Pope. 

During that same period, Pope allegedly held a minor in a home against her will and sexually assaulted her. The identity of that victim was not revealed, WMBF reports. 

Pope’s run-ins with the law due to improper conduct with minors stems back to December 2011.  At that time, a 13-year-old told deputies she had sex with Pope after a friend introduced them. He allegedly gave her marijuana and alcohol, deputies said. She later found out he had AIDS, according to an incident report.

A second victim came forward alleging that Pope took her to his home on Lakeview Drive and had sex with her. The victim, also a minor, said she was sexually assaulted on Thanksgiving of that year and, like the 13-year-old, was concerned that she contracted AIDS from him. 

Both of the young women identified Pope’s home and his license plate number, according to the incident report, WMBF reports. 

A Facebook photo gallery titled “DJ Kid (Parties & Girls) Part 1” shows over 100 photos of the accused with several different Black women, many in compromising positions. Pope is grabbing several of the women’s butts and one photo shows him grabbing a woman by her crotch, with yet another woman lying on top of him topless.

According to a Facebook screenshot, Pope reportedly once bragged that “I’m 36 with 693 BODIES (All Black females), WBU?” Atlanta Black Star reports. 

“Damn Jason Roger Pope all these photos looks like it was taken in your house,” one person commented on Pope’s Facebook page on Tuesday (October 15), describing him as “a guy who is on a mission to torture someone.”