NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Members of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Brentwood Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of State arrested a Memphis woman for the alleged trafficking of juveniles for the purpose of illicit sex Saturday night.
According to the TBI, In a collaborative push to address human trafficking in Middle Tennessee over the past weekend, authorities placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex trafficking cases.
During the following investigation, authorities learned of a website not known to them prior. Upon searching, they found advertisements for prostitution that appeared to display juveniles.
On Saturday night, a sting at a Brentwood hotel was coordinated between the agencies, and in an undercover capacity, they responded to the advertisement.
At the designated time, three juveniles and an adult arrived at the hotel. Two of the juveniles came to the hotel room with condoms.
At that point, officers located and detained all three juveniles, as well as the adult driver. The driver was later identified as Taysha Dominique Jackson of Memphis.
Jackson was charged early Sunday morning with three counts of trafficking for a commercial sex act and booked into Williamson County jail on a $9 million bond.
"It is sickening to me that this criminal element exists in our society and particularly when it involves children," said Brentwood Chief of Police Jeff Hughes. "The Brentwood Police Department is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively combat this reprehensible crime."
"We are committed to working with our partners to address human trafficking in Tennessee by holding buyers and traffickers accountable under some of the toughest laws in the nation," said TBI Director David Rausch. "We will also do everything we can to help victims take their first brave steps toward becoming a survivor."
For additional information about human trafficking, the warning signs, and contact information for the Tennessee Human Trafficking Hotline, go to the It Has to Stop web page or the Eyes Up Nashville web page.
