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Tyler Johnson, [email protected]
ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING (April 30, 2021) – During a human trafficking operation that led to the arrest of former Democrat State Senator John Hastert and three others on Thursday, officers used different applications and websites to connect with the suspects.
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Allen Lee Pahl of Point of Rocks, Conor Michael Latta of Gillette, Kenneth Daniel Nosich of Rock Springs, along with Hastert, were arrested at a local hotel in Rock Springs for soliciting an act of prostitution.
According to Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jason Mower, officers posed as underage girls in attempt to lure them in. However, Mower said that the four men were not interested in underage girls during the operation.
Mower, who has served as the Supervising Detective for the Narcotics and Fugitive Apprehensive Task Force, said that that in order to make the arrest, officers must make contact with the suspect and the exchange of sexual favors must be agreed upon.
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“A lot of prostitution is because of sex and human trafficking,” Mower said.
He said that officers used different applications, social media websites and pick-up sites to come into contact with potential predators during the human trafficking training operation, which was hosted at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office by Uprising Wyoming and Sweetwater Against Trafficking.
Mower said it’s important to realize these immediate threats are everywhere because of how the internet is used these days.
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