Tulsa police arrested a Fort Smith man and woman who are suspected of taking women from Arkansas and forcing them into prostitution.

Clarence Fredrick Holden, 25, was booked into the Tulsa jail Tuesday night on one count of pandering, or acting as a pimp, and two counts of human trafficking. He was being held in lieu of a $102,500 bond, according to jail records.

Destiny Hope Niles, 24, was being held on a charge of soliciting prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church. Her bail was set at $1,500.

A third man arrested with Holden and Niles, Deron DeAngelo Maxey, 25, of Oklahoma was charged with drug possession. His bail was set at $15,000.

The three were arrested by police vice officers whowere conducting an investigation of massage parlor and prostitution operations advertised on the website Backpages.com, according to a Tulsa police news release.

Officers contacted a woman, who was advertising on an escort page and made arrangements to meet her at a Tulsa motel, police spokesman Jillian Roberson said.

The news release stated that during a conversation with an undercover officer, Niles said she would provide a massage with a sexual act at the end for $150.

When officers identified themselves, Niles said she was being held against her will and was forced to go to Tulsa from Arkansas. She led officers to a room at the motel occupied by Holden and Maxey, and they were arrested, Roberson said.

Further investigation showed that multiple women from Arkansas were forced to go to Tulsa to engage in prostitution, Roberson said.

The other women were released but Niles was arrested, Roberson said, because witnesses said she was working with Holden rather than for him.

The Tulsa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit has been cracking down on massage-parlor operations proliferating in Oklahoma, Roberson said.

The unit continues its investigation into the humantrafficking allegation, she said. She said she had no information on the identities of the women who were released or where they lived in Arkansas.

Holden has served two prison terms in Arkansas for Sebastian County criminal cases, according to Arkansas Department of Correction records.

The first stint was from April 21 to Sept. 3, 2010, on a breaking or entering conviction. The second was Aug. 17 to Dec. 3, 2012, on a conviction of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He also pleaded guilty March 10 in Crawford County Circuit Court to misdemeanor marijuana possession and failure to appear charges, for which he was fined $100 and ordered to perform 150 days of community service, according to the court records.

Niles has no criminal record in Sebastian or Crawford counties.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/01/2013