SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Authorities have charged a man with using MySpace.com to lure a 16-year-old girl into prostitution.

Melvin Charles Parker Jr., 32, of Richmond, was arraigned Friday for a number of prostitution and pimping charges after police said he lured the girl from her home in Washington state using the popular social networking Web site.

Once the girl arrived in town, police stopped her on the street for questioning when it appeared she was trying to find customers. She told police Parker threatened her into prostitution.

“He told her that he wanted her to prostitute herself, or his friends would look up her family and hurt them,” said Margo Rohrbacher, a spokeswoman for the San Rafael police.

Police said they told the girl to call Parker, and listened in as he gave her instructions on where to meet him to deliver her earnings. He was arrested when he arrived.

Parker was charged with pandering, unlawful sex by fraud or fear, soliciting for a prostitute and sale or transportation of marijuana, among other charges.

Parker was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail. The girl was being held in Juvenile Hall until her family could be contacted.