An Alabama state trooper was among those arrested in an undercover sting operation aimed at catching people who were intending to have sex with minors. The Montgomery County sheriff's office said in a Monday press conference that 11 men were arrested in the sting operation. Law enforcement officers said the men had communicated in chat rooms with a decoy they believed to be a minor and traveled to a hotel to have sex with the "minor." They instead were met by law enforcement officers and arrested.
Alabama Public Radio was embedded during a similar sting during its fourteen month investigation into human trafficking. During that 2019 coverage, APR reported…
“The group of law officers representing four departments is about to net its first suspect of the night. One of the female officers is alone in a guest room as a potential John arrives to talk price. Four more members of the task force are standing outside the back door to the room. First bust The handcuffs go on and the first suspect is ushered out for booking.
Without naming names, the list includes college aged young people, one member of the military, and a trucker who left his eighteen wheeler idling in the parking lot while he allegedly dropped in to buy sex. For (UA Social Work researcher) Christian Lim, the next step is rolling out the University of Alabama’s shared trafficking database. He says the goal is to make sure trafficking victims don’t get lost in the cracks...
“And so, you have a system that’s working now to truly find justice, and help this person toward restoration, as opposed to in the case of a defense attorney and prosecuting attorney, a couple of professionals working to win a case," says Lim.
And (Tuscaloosa Police) Lieutenant Darren Beams and the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force will play a part in that. His team is being asked to help train state law officers in how the task force operates. Beams says that includes his own officers who once opposed treating sex workers as possible victims of trafficking.
“It was hard, and it was difficult to change the mindset," says Beams. "And across the state I think it’s still difficult, cause we’re one of the only task forces running right not that address it like we do.”
And perhaps changing more mindsets one at a time.”
As for the current case involving former State Trooper Ryan Rhodes, The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement Monday that Rhodes, a senior law officer with the agency resigned Friday following his arrest. The sheriff's office confirmed that Rhodes was among those arrested early Friday morning. Rhodes, 26, was charged with electronic solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act and resisting arrest. Court records did not indicate if Rhodes has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said during the press conference that they are "sick and tired" of attempts to prey on young people.
"We are not going to allow you to do this to our young people. The message from us today is: No," Cunningham said.
