Nine men were arrested in Central Texas on solicitation charges following a joint operation by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Copperas Cove Police Department last week, according to a press release.
The two law enforcement agencies executed a prostitution operation from July 7 to July 8 to identify and apprehend individuals who may be using websites to solicit sexual acts from minors.
The individuals below were charged with Soliciting Prostitution of a Person Younger than the Age of 18 and are being held on bond:
- 53-year-old Allen Ward Maycroft of Killeen, Texas, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 27-year-old Andre Mikael Kpazahi of Killeen, Texas, with a $55,000 bond. He is also charged with two counts of abandoning and/or endangering a child with intent to return.
- 24-year-old Sterling Ray Alford of Gatesville, Texas, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 51-year-old Joseph Brian O’Rourke of Killeen, Texas, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 38-year-old Hermenegildo Prado-Perez of Killeen, Texas, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 20-year-old Jayden Christopher Pullom of Conyers, Georgia, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 24-year-old Darshan Jitendrabhai Patel of Killeen, Texas, with a $25,000 surety bond.
- 36-year-old Quincy Dandre Harris of Killeen, Texas, with a $25,000 and $4,000 surety bond. He is also charged with the unlawful carrying of a weapon.
- 42-year-old Benjamin Joseph Zupancic of Colorado Springs, Colorado, with a $25,000 surety bond.
Researchers at UT Austin’s School of Social Work estimate that roughly 79,000 children and youths are being sex trafficked in Texas at any given time.
“In Texas, human trafficking is believed to be highest within the ‘Texas Triangle’ that connects the Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas, as well as in the lower Rio Grande Valley,” according to Upbring, a Texas-based child-welfare advocacy and support group.