Pastor, Girls Basketball Coach Arrested In Sex Trafficking Sting

TAMPA, FL — A church pastor and a girls high school basketball coach were among 79 men arrested as part of a weeklong operation against human trafficking leading up to Wrestlemania 37 in Tampa last weekend.

Operation Takedown was launched to combat the sex trafficking crimes that spikes during major sporting events, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said during a news conference Thursday.

Tampa ranks 12th in the country for the number of calls made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. And Florida has the third-highest rate of human trafficking cases reported in the country, according to the FBI.

"Here in the United States, both U.S. residents and foreign nationals are being bought and sold like modern-day slaves," according to the FBI.

The FBI said sex traffickers use threats of violence, drugs, manipulation and false promises to exploit vulnerable people to work as prostitutes.

Chronister, who led several sex-trafficking operations prior to the Feb. 7 Super Bowl in Tampa, said the johns who pay for sex are just as responsible for the flourishing sex trafficking trade as the pimps who sell vulnerable women and teens, both boys and girls.

From March 30 to April 9, Chronister said, undercover detectives posed as prostitutes on chat lines, at hotels and on the streets, yielding some surprising arrests.

Among those arrested were 39-year-old Earnest Benjamin, a pastor at Breath of Life Worship Church in Tampa, and 39-year-old Christopher Ray, a girls basketball coach at Land O’ Lakes High School, authorities said.

"Both of these men, trusted and revered members of our community, were arrested for soliciting another to commit prostitution,” Chronister said.

The sheriff said another man, Jason Brooks, 44, of Tampa, was arrested after he responded to a decoy prostitution advertisement. Chronister said Brooks believed he was going to pay for sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Also arrested was Jamel Muldrew, 32, of Houston, Texas. Chronister said Muldrew brought a 17-year-old to Tampa when Wrestlemania came to town to use for sex trafficking.

In addition to one count of human trafficking, Muldrew faces charges of transporting for prostitution and deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution.

Two other underage sex trafficking victims were rescued as well, he said. The national sex trafficking awareness and advocacy group, Selah Freedom, is now providing the victims with assistance.

"This operation helped rescue three females from the perils of human trafficking," Chronister said. "Unfortunately, the only thing wrong with this number is that we know there are more victims. I want to remind everyone that if you see something, say something. By reporting anyone you think may be a victim of these heinous crimes, you could be saving a life."

Also arrested during Operation Takedown was Rusty Harden, 41, of Tampa. A registered sex offender, Harden was charged with multiple felonies after he sent explicit messages and photos to an undercover detective he believed was a 14-year-old girl, Chronister said.

Chronister said Harden traveled on foot to meet the teen girl, only to be greeted by detectives. He is one of four men charged with traveling to meet a minor after using a device to solicit illegal acts.

In addition to sex trafficking charges, Earnest Benjamin, 39, was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child because he had his two small children in the car at the time he was “soliciting someone for the acts of a sex trade," Chronister said.

Partnering with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on the sex trafficking sting were the Orange County, Pasco County and St. Johns County sheriff's offices, which arrested men located out of the Hillsborough County sheriff's jurisdiction. The Lakeland Police Department and Cape Coral Police Department also made arrests. DeliverFund, a national nonprofit group dedicated to ending human trafficking, helped law enforcement locate men who participated in sex trafficking.

See related stories:

• 147 Sex Trafficking Arrests Made In Weeks Before Super Bowl
• The Seedier Side Of The Super Bowl: Combating Sex Trafficking
• Human Trafficking Commission Continues To Prepare For Super Bowl