A 19-year-old man charged with "pimping" the services of a 16-year-old girl on the popular Craigslist Web site and forcing her to have sex with him made his initial court appearance yesterday.

Marcus X. Arrington of Halawa is charged with first-degree promotion of prostitution and second-degree sexual assault. His bail was set at $50,000 and he is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing tomorrow.

Also charged with Arrington are Anthony Fuller and Brad Y.K. Young. Both also are charged with promoting prostitution, while Fuller was charged with third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and Young with third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.

Fuller's bail was set at $50,000 and he is scheduled to appear in court with Arrington tomorrow. Young posted $11,000 bail and will make his initial court appearance tomorrow.

Arrington is accused of being the head of a prostitution ring that used Craigslist's "Erotic Services" category to advertise the services of his prostitutes, according to a police affidavit filed in Honolulu District Court. The ads offered "callout" services to "meet with John Does at residences, hotels and cars," the affidavit said.

On Dec. 20, 2008, police said a 16-year-old girl ran away from home and met with a man, identified in the affidavit as Arrington. The girl told Arrington, who's street name is "Black," that she knew him from growing up at the Halawa housing complex, the affidavit said.

While driving to an 'Ewa Beach address and back, Arrington took out a black handgun and told the girl that he was "pimping" her friends and that she would be working for him as a prostitute, the affidavit said. The girl told him that she was a juvenile and could not work as a prostitute, but Arrington told her that he didn't care, according to the affidavit.

The following day, the girl said she was forced to have sex with Arrington and she told police that she "gave in" because she feared Arrington.

"Arrington had choked and shoved her in the past and that (the girl) knew Arrington also had a handgun," the affidavit said.

From Dec. 21 to Dec. 30, the girl was called out six to eight times a day to meet with men to have sex in exchange for money, the affidavit said. The girl was paid $200 to $400 each time and brought in between $6,000 and $8,000 in that period, according to the affidavit.

But the girl told police that she didn't receive any of the money and that Arrington kept 90 percent of the cash, while giving the rest to Young and Fuller. Young, the affidavit said, served as the "escort" and took the girl to her appointments, while Fuller served as "security."

The girl reported the incidents to police in April and the men were arrested last week.

The popular Craigslist Web site has come under fire since a Boston University medical student was arrested and charged last month with robbing women and killing one of them after they advertised erotic services on the site. As a result of that case, Craigslist has eliminated the category and said it will screen submissions to a new "adult services" section before they are posted.