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ZZUNUSED
Two charged in interstate sex trade
HUNTINGTON -- A man and woman from Columbus, Ohio, appeared in federal court Thursday afternoon, hours after they were arrested in a sex trade sting at a Huntington hotel.
The suspects -- Bridgette Baugh, 34, and William L. Green, 65 -- were detained Wednesday night at the Western Regional Jail. They are charged with transporting seven women across state lines to engage in prostitution, according to criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court.
Attached affidavits state the seven women ranged in age from 18 to 35. Most were in their early 20s. Several of the women told investigators they were instructed to act as if they were 14 or 15.
"The males were expecting young girls," the affidavit states.
The arrests followed an investigation by the FBI and the Columbus Police Department. An undercover Columbus police officer and a cooperating witness gained Green's trust and access to his house, then negotiated arrangements to purchase prostitute services for what they described to Green as a hotel party in Huntington.
The investigation started with an Aug. 14 interview. A neighbor told the undercover officer Green occasionally locked underage girls in his house with a dead-bolt lock. The girls did not have a key to exit the residence, the affidavit states.
The team first entered Green's house on Aug. 15. The affidavit states Green told them he could provide girls as young as 6 years old.
They also met a girl they estimated to be 15 or 16 years old inside of Green's house. She hugged the cooperating witness and said "Please get me out of here."
The affidavit states police believe that girl is the daughter of a Columbus-area drug addict who had prostituted herself for Green since age 14. They believe the mother "gave" her daughter to be Green's prostitute as payment for drugs.
The cooperating witness and undercover officer continued negotiations through Wednesday.
That's when Green, Baugh, the cooperating witness and seven women left Columbus for Huntington. They entered the Ramada Limited hotel on 16th St. Road near I-64 and went to a room where the undercover officer waited inside. The officer agreed to pay $200 to have sex with one of the women. Money exchanged hands and the suspects were arrested, according to court documents.
Each woman was interviewed. The affidavit states all of them "believed they were going to be paid to do striptease dances for men at the hotel." Several anticipated receiving additional money for further sex acts.
"One of the females, Victim B, stated Green informed her the males at the hotel were going to pay her $2,000, and she would have to give half of that money, $1,000, back to Green," the affidavit states.
The affidavit states Green and Baugh set prices for the Huntington hotel party. They charged $100 for each girl and an additional $200 be paid to themselves.
Green and Baugh also charged another $200 in advance. They said that money would be used to fix hair and purchase lingerie, the affidavit states.
The advance money was paid Aug. 29. That is when Green told the cooperating witness most of the girls traveling to Huntington would be 13 or 14, the affidavit states.
The cooperating witness paid the additional money en route to Huntington.
The affidavit states Green and Baugh accepted their $100 payments, as did the seven women. Then Green charged each woman varying amounts, which the women paid from their $100 allotments. Green charged each woman between $20 to $100.
The FBI funded the undercover payments with marked $20 bills. Investigators confiscated marked currency from both suspects and the seven women.
The affidavits do not state the investigators' reason for selecting Huntington. There was no mention of Green or Baugh having additional sex trade communications with contacts in Huntington.
Green and Baugh are in U.S. Marshal Service custody. They will appear at a preliminary/detention hearing Tuesday. They will have a choice to attend those proceedings in Huntington or ask for the case to be returned to Ohio.
