DA says girl abducted into sex slavery

The girl escaped Thursday afternoon when the suspect left her alone at the Best Western Adams Inn in Quincy. She ran from the hotel room and went to the lobby, where she reached out to relatives through Facebook and pleaded for their help, Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Erin Murphy said in court.

Norman S. Barnes, 29, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Quincy District Court to charges of kidnapping and enticing a minor into prostitution.

In a telephone interview, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said prosecutors in Essex and Suffolk counties are also investigating Barnes in this case and possibly others.

Morrissey said the girl had been forced into “sex slavery,’’ calling the allegations against Barnes “disgusting and despicable.’’

Murphy said relatives had reported the girl missing to authorities.

Authorities said at least two relatives arrived at the motel at the same time Barnes returned there Thursday. A relative of the girl summoned a state trooper working a paid detail on the Neponset River Bridge reconstruction project. The trooper arrested Barnes and helped rescue the girl. Murphy said Barnes also had $19,000 in cash on him.

“When the relative pulled up near the motel,’’ Murphy said, “the defendant returned to the inn, asking [the girl] what was she doing out of the room. . . . She began to run away.’’

The burly Barnes appeared in court with his jacket pulled over his face and his hands cuffed in front of him.

At the request of prosecutors, Judge John A. Canavan III ordered Barnes held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing May 27.

His defense lawyer, Joanna Sandman, did not challenge the prosecutors’ motion.

At the request of Norfolk prosecutors, Canavan also ordered the case file impounded. Prosecutors said in court that they would not disclose any details that could lead to identification of the girl. Those details included where she was allegedly picked up by Barnes.

Murphy said yesterday that the girl was also taken to the Comfort Inn in Danvers and the Ramada Inn in Dorchester. She said Barnes would rent a room and then arrange for customers to come to the room, where the girl was forced to have sex with them.

She also said that Barnes forced the girl to have sex with him and that she was able to identify him to authorities by scars he had on his body.

Murphy said the investigation is ongoing and may lead to information showing the girl was forced to prostitute herself at other motels in other communities in the state.

The prosecutor said Barnes spotted the girl walking with a friend on May 7. Barnes, who has listed himself in prior court records as a car dealer, offered to give the girls a ride home, authorities said. Barnes dropped off the first girl, but then refused to drive the victim to an MBTA station as he promised, Murphy said. Instead, the prosecutor said, he kept the girl captive.

Morrissey said the case illustrated why Massachusetts needs to enact legislation against human trafficking.

“It’s not something that is just happening in Thailand or the Middle East,’’ Morrissey said. “It’s happening everywhere. It’s happening in our backyard.’’

Massachusetts is one of four states that do not have a specific law against sex slavery, Morrissey said, adding that prosecutors back a bill proposed by Attorney General Martha Coakley.

He credited the girl’s family for not giving up on her and doing what they could to find and rescue her.

John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.