UPDATE: Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017
A judge has lowered the bond for a North Carolina man arrested in a Knox County human trafficking sting.
Timothy King, 27, was arrested on trafficking charges after the Knox County Sheriff's Office found a missing North Carolina girl in the back of his car.
Last week, deputies conducted an undercover prostitution sting when King responded to an online ad. Officers met King at a West Knoxville motel.
King was arrested along with two women who were suspected of prostitution. He faces felony charges of trafficking of sexual servitude.
If he makes bond, King will have to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet. King is expected to be back in court on Nov. 28.
ORIGINAL STORY: Friday, Oct. 13, 2017
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office conducted a prostitution sting operation that led to the arrests of nine people and the recovery of a missing teenage girl from North Carolina.
Investigators monitored postings online during the three-day operations, mainly form a website called Backpage.com. With the help of hotels across the county, investigators say they were able to complete the sting operation.
On Tuesday, a detective went to the Holiday Inn on Executive Park Drive in West Knoxville after making contact with 27-year-old Timothy King of Hickory, North Carolina. King allegedly planned the sale of a sexual encounter with two women at the hotel. King and the two women, 20-year-old Tabitha Bans from Asheville and 20-year-old Jesse McMinn of Hickory, North Carolina, were arrested. King faces a felony charge of sexual servitude.
During this encounter, detectives found a 16-year-old girl in King’s car. Investigators found out she was a runaway from North Carolina and had been reported missing for two months. The teenager does not face charges in this case, and she has been reunited with her family in North Carolina.
Also arrested were six other adults: 20-year-old Kyra Fultz from Hickory, North Carolina, 25-year-old Rian O’Quinn from Knoxville, 25-year-old Kayla Inmate from Rockwood, Anthony Vaughan from Acworth, Georgia, 28-year-old Samantha Stransky from Knoxville, and 29-year-old Amanda Kosis from Detroit.
Vaughn will be extradited to Georgia for violating probation, and Stransky is charged in Michigan for vehicular homicide.
Knox County Vice Unit Chief Allen May said his unit aims to conduct operations like these once a month. He said these people are often on the move and under the influence. He said people get wrapped up in prostitution or trafficking when they are young.
“By the time they get 19, 20-years-old, they’re in so tight that they don’t have any place to go,” May said.
May said the investigation is still ongoing, and the FBI is involved because the team recovered a juvenile.