Tennessee -- Special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Human Trafficking Unit, the Sevier County Sheriff's Office Street Crimes Unit, the Sevierville Police Department, Pigeon Forge Police Department, Gatlinburg Police Department, and the office of 4th Judicial District Attorney General James Dunn have arrested eight men accused of seeking illicit sex from minors.
Authorities put many decoy advertisements on websites associated to prostitution and commercial sex cases over a two-day period beginning April 21st as part of an undercover operation targeted at targeting human trafficking in East Tennessee. The operation's main goal was to find those who were looking to engage in commercial sex activities with kids. Authorities detained eight guys and booked them into the Sevier County Jail as a consequence of the operation:
• Carl Joseph Cantrell (DOB: 7/16/88), Dandridge, TN: One count of Solicitation of a Minor, one count of Soliciting Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
• Benjamin Jason Holt (DOB: 10/12/77), Newport, TN: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
• Eric Burse Griffith (DOB: 7/18/81), Robbins, TN: One count of Solicitation of a Minor, one count of Soliciting Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
• Denis Tyulkin (DOB: 6/15/76), Ravenna, OH: Two counts of Solicitation of a Minor
• Tyler Ryan Arrington (DOB: 12/15/92), Lebanon, VA: Two counts of Solicitation of a Minor
• Raul Pedro (DOB: 5/28/94), Knoxville, TN: Two counts of Solicitation of a Minor
• Kevin Leroy Baer (DOB: 12/16/55), Westminster, MD: Two counts of Solicitation of a Minor
• Ivan Kale Freeman (DOB: 1/27/92), Knoxville, TN: Two counts of Solicitation of a Minor
Information about human trafficking and TBI’s efforts to address this type of crime can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com.
*Editor's Note: A criminal charge is an accusation, by law, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven in a court of law.
Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington