Thelma woman charged with human trafficking in sting
By Waylon Whitson Staff Writer
PAINTSVILLE HERALD
A Thelma woman was arrested Wednesday by Paintsville Police Department officers on charges including human trafficking and promoting human trafficking, according to court documents.
According to court documents, PPD Capt. Jonathan Holbrook and Chief Mike Roe “sent a confidential informant to where (Deborah Hamilton, 40, of Thelma), was at,” after Hamilton sent messages to the informant “wanting to sell him females for an hour at (a rate of) $75 an hour.
According to the citation, the informant gave Hamilton the $75 and she re-entered a residence and “sent a female out.” Holbrook said he stopped the informant and the woman, who told them “(Hamilton) sells her and gives her some money for it.”
“It was an undercover sting operation conducted by the PPD. The target was a suspected prostitution ring in Pineview Trailer Court,” said Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Matt Runyon. “I do know that the PPD moved as quickly as they possibly could after receiving reliable information that a minor was being forced to participate in the prostitution ring.
“Upon learning that information … Holbrook and Chief Roe immediately met with us to discuss the proper course of action, and they executed the sting operation shortly thereafter,” Runyon continued.
A search warrant was issued and Hamilton was arrested on charges of human trafficking, promoting human trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia before being lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center, where she remained lodged as of press time.
No other citations have been filed in Johnson County Circuit Court as of press time Friday, and no court dates had yet been set in Hamilton’s case.
