Two men charged for pimping teens on Backpage.com
Jun 11, 2013, 4:45 PM | Updated: 5:18 pm
Two men are charged for pimping a 15-year-old girl after friends and family found her picture on Backpage.com’s escort section.
Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist says a family friend posed as a potential customer, arranged to meet the girl at a Motel 6 in Fife on Monday, June 10. Officers discovered the room was registered to Joshua Jones, 23, and Samuel Miles-Johnson, 25.
Officers spotted the men outside the motel. Jones admitted to police he had rented the motel room so that the teen could engage in prostitution and that he expected to be compensated for the room.
The teen, whose family says is a runaway, was discovered in the room. Officers found the teen’s photo on Backpage.com advertised as a prostitute. Another 15-year-old girl seen at the motel was also in the ad.
A phone with the phone number listed in the Backpage.com ad was discovered with Miles-Johnson when he was arrested. It was the same number listed on the motel room registration.
Jones and Miles-Johnson were charged with Promoting Commercial Sex Abuse of a Minor and were arraigned Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court. They pleaded not guilty and bail was set at $500,000 for each defendant.
