A two-day undercover, multi-agency human trafficking operation resulted in the arrest of eight men accused of seeking illicit sex from minors in Sevier County, according to a press release by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
A multi-agency undercover investigation in Sevier County that focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors has resulted in eights arrests. Click the link below to read more from the TBI Newsroom. https://t.co/pr4guSeAiq pic.twitter.com/YLSxsUuUqY
— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) April 25, 2022
Over a two-day period beginning April 21st, as part of an undercover investigation aimed at addressing human trafficking in East Tennessee, authorities placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases, according to the press release. The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.
The United States Department of State describes human trafficking as “both a grave crime and a human rights abuse, it compromises national and economic security, undermines the rule of law, and harms the well-being of individuals and communities everywhere.”
As a result of the operation, authorities arrested the following eight men and booked them into the Sevier County Jail:
- Carl Joseph Cantrell (DOB: 7/16/88), Dandridge, TN: One count of Solicitation 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 Soliciting Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by Electronic Means
- Denis Tyulkin (DOB: 6/15/76), Ravenna, OH: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
- Tyler Ryan Arrington (DOB: 12/15/92), Lebanon, VA: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
- Raul Pedro (DOB: 5/28/94), Knoxville, TN: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
- Kevin Leroy Baer (DOB: 12/16/55), Westminster, MD: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
- Ivan Kale Freeman (DOB: 1/27/92), Knoxville, TN: One count of Solicitation of a Minor
The operation was completed by special agents with the TBI Human Trafficking Unit, the Sevierville Police Department, the Pigeon Forge Police Department, the Gatlinburg Police Department, the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit, and the office of 4th Judicial District Attorney General James Dunn.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Carl Joseph Cantrell (Left)” and “Benjamin Jason Holt (Right)” by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
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