An online escort ad led detectives to a hotel Tuesday night where they arrested three people on pimping and prostitution charges. Sioux Falls police arranged a meeting for sex with a woman they contacted through Backpage. Loren McManus said. She was charged with one count of prostitution, a class one misdemeanor, as well as possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Officers learned that Kochneff had not set up the online ad by herself. The woman received a phone call from James Soto, 33, of Fargo shortly after her arrest. When Soto and Yaevonne Favors, 27, also of Fargo, arrived at the hotel, they were also arrested. Both were charged with one count of pimping. The suspects made their initial appearances in court Wednesday afternoon. Deputy public defender Traci Smith told a judge that Kochneff said Soto and Favors had nothing to do with the online ad.
Minnehaha County deputy states attorney Don Hanson requested the highest bond for Favors. She was arrested in Sioux Falls in February on drug and prostitution charges after detective answered an online sex ad. Sioux Falls police have made a string of arrests on pimping and prostitution charges in recent months.
Police credit public awareness, cooperation from local hotels and motels and community education about sex trafficking as factors in the success of clamping down on sex-for-money crimes. Sioux Falls law enforcement once focused on arresting woman who sold themselves for sex.
There's a greater focus today on finding the pimps who orchestrate the sex trade. Since , at least 54 people in Minnehaha County have been charged with human trafficking crimes, according to Unified Judicial System research. Three from Fargo arrested in Sioux Falls on prostitution charges. Mark Walker mwalker argusleader. Facebook Twitter Email.
