VIRGINIA BEACH — A 24-year-old man is facing a sex trafficking charge after police say he prostituted a woman at a Virginia Beach hotel, according to court documents.
Marquese Trae-von Collins, of Indianapolis, was charged with sex trafficking to receive money; aiding prostitution; using a car to aid prostitution; and residing in a bawdy place on Aug. 26.
The charges came at the same time a 24-year-old woman was arrested for soliciting prostitution, drug possession and frequenting a bawdy house on the same day.
The woman was arrested after an undercover special investigator for the Virginia Beach Police Department contacted her through an online ad listed on backpage.com. The woman and police officer agreed to meet at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, located at 5819 Northampton Blvd., for a sexual appointment. The police officer agreed to pay the woman $80 for a “quick visit,” according to documents filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
When the police officer arrived, the woman said she was going to her car to get a condom. When she left the room, police arrested her. Although she was uncooperative during questioning, she told police they could search the hotel room. During the search, they found a dozen ecstasy pills, court documents state.
While they were searching the room, Collins knocked on the door and was arrested. When police questioned him, he admitted that he knew that the woman was a prostitute and that he drove her from Indiana to Virginia Beach, according to court documents.
He also told police that he provided her security. He came up to the hotel room after calling and texting her without response.
When police searched Collins’ phone, they realized his phone was the one used to text the police officer, although he denied knowing about the Backpage ad.
Collins is currently in jail at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, and the woman has been let out on bail. Both are scheduled to appear in Virginia Beach General District Court on Oct. 27.
Editor’s note: Southside Daily did not publish the name of the woman involved in this alleged crime as she may be a victim of sex trafficking.
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