Police arrested 11 people in an undercover prostitution sting,
including a San Jose man who is accused of treating a juvenile
female, who was also arrested,
”
like a slave,
”
one officer said.
Police arrested 11 people in an undercover prostitution sting, including a San Jose man who is accused of treating a juvenile female, who was also arrested, “like a slave,” one officer said.
The arrests were made by Morgan Hill Police Department’s Special Operations unit. The sting took place during evening hours Wednesday and Thursday at a local hotel that police declined to identify, according to Detective Ken Howard.
Eight of the suspects were females arrested for prostitution after undercover police responded to advertisements the women placed with Web sites such as Craigslist, Howard said. Two were males associated with two of the female suspects, and another woman was cited on warrants for previous misdemeanor charges.
“For a small town like Morgan Hill, to be able to pull in that many prostitutes is a success,” Howard said.
Morgan Hill officers posing as paying customers called the phone numbers associated with the ads, Howard said.
The officers asked the women to meet them at the local hotel, where they were arrested after it was determined they intended to take money for sex.
Arrested, cited and released on suspicion of prostitution Wednesday were Shonte Tennesse, 18, Oakland; Daniel Riggins, 31, Oakland; Jenny Smith, 23, Oakland; Brittni Wilson, 22, San Francisco; and a 17-year-old female from San Jose.
Arrested and booked into county jail were Vincent Herrera, 32, of Oakland, on suspicion of a parole violation; and Brandon Everly, 28, of San Jose on suspicion of pimping and pandering.
Arrested, cited and released Thursday on suspicion of prostitution, at the same hotel, were Kaitlyn Nelson, 19, San Jose; Theda Kelly, 27, San Jose; and Valerie Schofield, 25, San Jose.
Another woman, Denisia Ward, 23, San Jose, was called into the sting Thursday by the undercover johns, but was not cited for prostitution. Instead, police acted on outstanding warrants for her arrest on previous misdemeanor charges by giving her a notice to appear in court, Howard said.
Police are investigating another San Jose man for pimping and pandering, but did not arrest him. Howard said the man drove Schofield, one of the suspected prostitutes, to the site.
Everly drove to the hotel with the 17-year-old female as his passenger. He is accused of being the teen’s pimp, Howard said.
In a typical prostitute-pimp relationship, the woman gives the man a portion of the money she earns in exchange for protection and transportation to and from jobs.
However, in Wednesday night’s incident, all the money the 17-year-old made was going to Everly, Howard said.
“He was taking everything she had,” said Howard. “The only thing he would do was give her some clothes and feed her. She was almost like a slave.”
Most of the other women arrested in the sting appeared to be acting on their own, Howard said.
Police declined to disclose the name of the hotel where the sting occurred, as Howard said the police set up the sting without their participation. He said police do not think the hotel is regularly used by prostitutes to set up clandestine meetings with johns.
