A Lawrenceville woman was among nine people were taken into custody at in Oconee County Thursday, charged with pandering and prostitution following an undercover investigation by the and Barrow County Sheriff's Office.
Undercover deputies placed multiple ads for solicitation on the free classified ads website Backpage. Plans for the operation had been in the works for about two months, he said.
The Sheriff's Office was already aware of Backpage to a limited degree, but after a recent incident where a Jefferson by a woman he met on the website, deputies "refocused efforts on it," Berry said. A into the Gwinnett County Jail in June, accused of using the website for prostitution.
A in Barrow County in May. Berry said he was surprised by the frequency of the calls and the number of arrests. Within five minutes of placing the ads, there were responses, he said. The operation had to be shut down for a few minutes in order to transport those six prisoners to the truck, Berry said. The district's attorney's office was consulted ahead of time, and in all of the cases where an arrest was made, there was an item of value exchanged for an agreed-upon sex act, he said.
One man who showed up wasn't charged because his actions didn't meet the elements of the crime, Berry said. Thorp, 26, of Athens; Rodney J. Megan A. Beeman, 23, of Lawrenceville, was charged with prostitution.
