2 netted in Internet prostitution sting

AUSTIN, (KXAN) - Police said a prostitution sting in South Austin found an undocumented 16-year-old girl was being advertised and sold for sex online.

Undercover officers conducted a sting at La Quinta Inn off Oltorf Street on Thursday that ended with the arrest of Jennifer Russell, 22, and Quincy Gholar, 35. Russell's infant daughter was in the back seat of the car at the time.

Russell and Gholar's rap sheets, however, began long before they set up shop at that hotel.

Both were busted in Kansas City, Kansas in 2008, at Settle Inn motel and charged with promoting prostitution.

Police told KXAN the couple operated in other states like Pennsylvania and Nevada.

"They travel, they advertise on certain Web sites, then put their phone numbers," said Lt. Jerry Gonzalez with the Austin Police Department.

Police said over a one-week period, undercover officers arranged to meet the girl for sex via the online Web site, Backpage.com . 

They said Gholar and Russell, who is also a working prostitute, brokered the deal. 

Detectives told KXAN the girl agreed to be paid $150 for a half hour of sex.

"We know that this has been going on for a while," Gonzalez said.

Police believe Gholar and Russell also made a deal with the girl they knew by the nickname "Secret."  For half of the $150 she made, they would provide her with transportation, protection and online advertising.

Police said they picked up the 16-year-old girl at a Greyhound bus station.  Although, it's unclear how they first came into contact or if the girl worked for them in other cities and states.

"The whole goal of this investigation was to determine if the girl was sixteen," Gonzalez explained.

Gonzalez said this case may meet the criteria to be tried by the U.S. attorney as human trafficking.

It's a crime that local victim advocates said is becoming commonplace.

""I don't think people realize that trafficking is something that happens in Austin, Texas," said Julia Spann, executive director of SafePlace .  "These kinds of bad things have always been done. Certainly, technology just means it's easier, faster and more accessible."

Richard Smith was renting the room below where the sting took place, but said news of the sting didn't bother him.

"It could happen at any hotel," said Smith, who is in town visiting family. "It happens everywhere."

Area residentts spoke with KXAN Sunday afternoon and said while the crime is shocking, they weren't surprised it happened in their neighborhood.

"It was shocking, especially since the child was 16 because it is not something we've ever heard of happening in this neighborhood," said Linda Martinez, a 24-year South Austin resident whose backyard is a quarter-mile from the hotel.

"All the hotels up there, are filled with prostitutes, not just La Quinta,." said resident Johnny Macias.

Spann, who speaks out for sexual abuse victims, said it's unlikely the teenager entered this sex-for-hire business on her own free will.

"Typically, there has been some form of coercion or force that's been used, perhaps threats," said Spann.

Martinez said however the girl got involved in prostituion, things like these are a sign of the times.

"These days, people at a very early age do things that were shocking maybe in my day," said Martinez.

Police said Russell  told them she runs an escort business.

Gonzalez said both the undocumented teen and Russell's daughter are now in the care of CPS.

He went on to say that while the teen was arrested for prostitution, she is being treated as a victim.

Police said they have yet to interview the girl and are waiting for her to get a court appointed lawyer.

Russell and Gholar have not bonded out of the Travis County Jail.