MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man and a woman from the Memphis area were among nine arrested during a human trafficking sting in East Tennessee over the weekend.
Vincent Billingsley, 30, of Memphis, was charged with one count of promoting prostitution and one count of simple drug possession.
Morgan Garrett, 38, of Cordova, is facing one count of promoting prostitution.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said special agents with TBI’s Human Trafficking Unit, the Hendersonville Police Department, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, members of the 18th Judicial Drug Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Office of 18th Judicial District Attorney General Ray Whitley were all involved in the undercover operation.
The TBI said the operation was aimed at addressing human trafficking in the Hendersonville area and identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.
On April 11 and 12, officers placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be associated with prostitution and sex trafficking.
As a result, nine people were charged and booked into the Sumner County Jail.
Among the other individuals arrested were the following:
The TBI said they were also trying to identify potential victims of human trafficking and recovered two individuals.
The victims were offered services through the human trafficking victim service organizations Thistle Farms and AncoraTN.
Information about human trafficking and TBI’s efforts to address this type of crime can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com.
