Two women and 5 men were charged on Thursday after authorities say they forced at least one teen into prostitution.
The seven suspects — ranging in age from 17 to 26 — have been charged with promoting the prostitution of a minor related to a teen victim in Spartanburg County.
Officials say it started in February when the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Victims Unit interviewed a runaway teen who said she was the victim of forced prostitution.
Eventually, three other underage girls were rescued and the investigation into the group of 7 suspects is continuing.
The US Department of Homeland Security has since become involved because the case might involve taking girls across state lines, GoUpstate reported.
Investigators say the suspects created profile pages for the girl victims on backpage website and promoted prostitution at several motels.
According to GoUpstate, the suspects are:
The men arrested are all of Spartanburg: Michael Gary Wayne Riddle, age 20, Dylan Lynn Patterson, age 19, Michael Donnell Whitaker, age 25, D’Shawn Cortez Pitts, age 19, and Brandon Lamar Littlejohn, age 26.
The females arrested are Makalya Rose Bradford, 18, of Moore, SC and Miracle Lashay Williams, 17, Asheville, N.C.
