ODESSA, TX (KWES) - Seven people were arrested on prostitution related charges after an undercover operation in Odessa.
"Human trafficking, prostitution, and sex trafficking, they kind of go hand and hand together. It does happen here more than people realize," said Cpl. Steve LeSueur with the Odessa Police Department.
According to the probable cause affidavits, a total of six women and one man were taken into custody last Thursday and Friday.
Police say undercover officers called an online advertisement for entertainment. Around 11 p.m. Thursday night, Daprice Darty, 21, met with an undercover federal agent at an unnamed hotel in Odessa and agreed to have intercourse with him for a fee.
Documents also say that when Darty arrived at the hotel, she was dropped off by a woman, Marsha Bell, 27, as well as a minor. Further investigation revealed that Darty left her three-year-old daughter in the vehicle with Bell while she went into the hotel.
Darty was arrested and charged with prostitution and endangering a child.
Bell later told officers during an interview that she was in the business of prostitution and that she currently managed three different prostitutes. In the interview, Bell said she placed ads, received phone calls from prospective clients and transported prostitutes to and from transactions.
"A lot of it is online. Unfortunately, a lot of it ends up here in Odessa and a lot of this stuff does get brought to our attention and we investigate all of it," said LeSueur.
Jose Yanez, 31, Ashley Appleby, 26, Tracy Daniels, 30, Dalila Sollano, 29, and Michelle Chandler, 26, were all arrested and charged with prostitution after authorities contacted them through online advertisements for entertainment.
Sollano and Chandler were arrested at truck stops and the others were arrested at hotels.
Yanez was also charged with possession of methamphetamine, less than one gram.
A 15-year-old girl was also recovered during the investigation.
"A lot of this victims start off as runaways, they start off in foster homes, foster care and they end up in the wrong hands and then it goes from state to state," said LeSueur.
Harmony Home deals with children who have suffered through abuse. They say victims of human trafficking often have a long road to recovery.
"The emotional scars vary, case by case, depending on the trauma," said Anthony Vandenberg, Community Resource Director. "The lasting effect depends on how they are handled immediately and after how long."
Harmony Home says although sexual abuse does have a lasting affect on the victim, there is hope for recovery.
"It's going to be something they have to work with and there is going to be times and years and maybe even seasonal cases where it comes back up, but there is definitely a chance, definitely a chance for full recovery and for them to become the person that they were going to become before this traumatic event," said Vandenberg
