The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM

22 Brentwood Men Indicted On Human Trafficking Charges After TBI Sting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- An undercover human trafficking sting in Brentwood led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation resulted in the indictments of 22 men.

“Yet again, our collaborative effort proves human trafficking is happening every day in communities across Tennessee,” said Jason Locke, Deputy Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “For years, our state has led the way in fighting this injustice, and we won’t stop doing whatever we can to send the message that it has to stop.”

Crews with the TBI, Brentwood Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the office of 21st District Attorney General Kim Helper helped with the operation.

During the first three days of the operation that happened in early October, two female TBI agents offered sex on Backpage.com. In text or phone conversations stemming from the Backpage post, the agents identfied themselves as 14 and 16-year-old girls. According to the TBI, the men who were undeterred from their posed ages and still went to meet the agents for sex included a computer programmer, automotive engineer, construction worker, and a chef.