By: Kyla Westmore
Many publications, including The Southern Accent, reported on a human trafficking sting operation conducted in the City of Collegedale on Aug. 21. This has raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the human trafficking arrests.
The Accent submitted a public records request to the Collegedale Police Department (CPD) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, to acquire police records, including arrest reports, incident reports and body camera footage. The following are the key findings from the request.
All 11 individuals were arrested for committing cybercrimes in patronizing prostitution, and 10 had additional charges including possession of Schedule II, possession of Schedule IV, possession of drug paraphernalia, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and most commonly, solicitation of a minor.
The eight arrests involving solicitation of a minor charges were carried out differently than the three cases that did not involve the charge.
Operations involving solicitation of a minor charges
In arrests involving a charge of solicitation of a minor charges, the operation began with a female undercover officer establishing contact with the arrestees via an ad soliciting sexual activities on a website, according to police records.
Then, the individual and undercover officer reached an agreement about the act and compensation. The undercover agent revealed that she was acting as a minor before meeting with the individual.
When an agreement was reached, the undercover officer met the individual in a hotel room on Old Lee Highway, according to police records. A large stuffed sloth sat on one of the beds in the hotel room, according to police body camera footage. After engaging with the undercover officer, law enforcement entered the room and placed the individual under custody.
Operations not involving solicitation of a minor charges
Arrestees House, Roberts and Huerta were not charged with solicitation of a minor.
According to police records, the arrestees made contact with an undercover officer through an ad on a website. The undercover officer and the individuals then negotiated a price for sexual activities. Roberts agreed to bring $10 worth of marijuana, according to police reports. Huerta brought 1.13 grams of suspected methamphetamine and a glass pipe, according to police reports.
The undercover officer and the individuals agreed to meet in a hotel room, and after making contact with the undercover officer, officers entered the room and took the individual into custody.
The police records are unclear on if these arrestees were offering to pay or be paid for sexual activities.
In Roberts’s case, O’Daniel’s incident report says, “Tiffany [Roberts] made contact with the undercover officer who took the money and the suspected marijuana.” The same verbiage was used in the incident report regarding Huerta.
However, when Roberts was asked if she was working for anyone, TBI Detective Watson’s incident report states, “She stated no. ‘She wasn’t going to give someone else money she worked for.’” It continued, “Roberts also stated that she only did this when she needed money for bills 2 to 3 times a month.”
The incident report documenting Huerta’s interview does not clearly identify if he was attempting to pay or be paid by the undercover officer.
The incident reports about House are also unclear. O’Daniel’s incident report states, “Emerald [House] made contact with the undercover officer and after giving the money to the undercover officer she took her shirt off.”
However, in Watson’s report, it states that House said she was there because she was contacted through her ad on a website. It also states, “House stated that when she arrived and entered into the hotel room that she received the money.”
Interviews
Once the individual was placed under custody, they were brought to another room where they were interviewed, according to body camera footage.
De La Cruz and Santana required a translator to speak in Spanish to and for them according to police reports. De La Cruz and Awda invoked their right not to speak without a lawyer present.
Others waived their Miranda rights with the law enforcement, according to police records. Hughes, Higdon and Hamer alleged that they were not aware that the undercover officer they engaged with was posing as a 16-year-old. Hughes and Reinoso claimed that they believed the officer was 22 years old, though Reinoso remembered the officer sharing that she was 16.
Santana stated that the undercover officer shared that she was 16 years old, but recalled that the ad said that she was 22 years old. Chaudhari said that the undercover officer shared that she was 16 or 17 years old with him, but was on the site because the 20-year-old “had never had sex,” according to an incident report.
Chaudhari alleged that this was his first time engaging in this behavior, while Santana stated that he has never done this in the United States, but paid for prostitution while living in the Dominican Republic. Huerta stated that he had engaged in this behavior for about 3 years, according to the police report.
Hamer stated that he had used the website when he lived in Mississippi. Roberts stated that she had been involved in these activities for about 10 years and had been arrested in the past for promoting prostitution in Hamilton County. Huerta had also been previously arrested for prostitution in Jasper, Tennessee in another human trafficking operation, according to police records.
