Girls saved from sex ring in Pinellas County

Author: wink news
Published:

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. (WTSP)- Pinellas County deputies busted an operation in which teenagers were pimped out in a prostitution ring.

“I didn’t know about this.”

The owners of Relax Inn in St. Petersburg had no idea what happened inside one of their rooms.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says two suspects, 22-year-old Dominique Drake and 23-year-old Syrenite McGee, were busted for pimping out a 16-year-old girl in exchange for drugs in an ad on backpage.com. The motel was the meeting place. That was case number one.

Case number two involved the arrest of three suspects.

Detectives say 22-year-old Julian Montoya, who online called himself Pimp Master Flex, was sexually exploiting a 16-year-old girl, pimping her out to anyone he could find via a Craigslist ad.

Detectives say 29-year-old John Zakel and 25-year-old Humberto Frutos answered the ad and had sex with the victim.

Detectives also confiscated the text messages sent by Montoya who wanted the victim to recruit girls from middle school. The language was blunt.

“Maybe we can get a two girl special, go find those slutty middle-schoolers too, and you’ve got to play with the other guys who crave the high school sluts,” said Gualtieri.

But the sheriff’s ire was not only directed at the alleged predators but also websites that he says endanger youth.

“Businesses, largely driven off shore, that are acting irresponsibly and just don’t care.They can deny all day long that their ads don’t promote, don’t facilitate prostitution, but we know that’s a bunch of junk,” said Gualtieri.

The sheriff spoke out directly to parents to make sure you watch sites like Craigslist and backpage.com, and know who your kids are talking to.

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