DULUTH, Minn. (WCCO) – A Duluth woman has been charged with aiding and abetting sex trafficking in the 1st –degree.
According to the St. Louis County Attorney’s office, 22-year-old Tabbatha Lee Olson solicited and promoted several juvenile females for prostitution in the Duluth area.
Along with 32-year-old Markeace Arque Canty, Olson used the internet to advertise and promote the prostitution of minors in several cities throughout the Midwest. Olson and Canty would also transport the juveniles to those various locations.
Olson and Canty were both apprehended, and Canty is being charged in a parallel indictment.
St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin says that Olson must be held accountable.
It is a sad reality that sometimes adult women are used by traffickers to solicit and arrange for the exploitation of young girls,” Rubin said. “The situation that the adult women find themselves in would be appropriately considered at the sentencing phase. However, the conduct is not excusable and they must face responsibility for their actions.”
In addition to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office, other agencies that assisted with this case include the FBI and the police departments of Duluth, Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D., Eau Claire, Wis., and Porter Co., Ind.
