SPRINGDALE — A Fayetteville man has been arrested in connection with human trafficking for the purpose of sex.
Gregory Lynell Gibson, 21, of 1606 N. Evening Shade Drive, was arrested Wednesday in connection with trafficking of persons, violation of probation, two counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a minor, possession of a controlled substance and knowingly furnishing or selling alcohol to a minor.
At A Glance
Trafficking Persons
Arkansas Criminal Code 5-18-103 (a) (4), states a person commits the offense of trafficking persons if he or she knowingly recruits, entices, solicits, isolates, harbors, transports, provides, maintains or obtains a minor for commercial sexual activity.
Source: Staff Report
Police said Gibson was promoting the prostitution of a juvenile girl.
The human trafficking arrest is the first to be prosecuted in Washington County, said John Threet, prosecutor. The state Legislature added the new charge in 2013, he said.
“That’s not to say that some earlier arrests wouldn’t have fallen under this charge,” Threet said. “It’s that this is so new.”
The Arkansas crime classification is new, but sex trafficking has been around for years, according to the National Human Trafficking Center. From 2008 to 2012, the center received 9,298 reports of trafficking, with 64 percent involving sex trafficking, according to a center report on Trafficking Trends in the United States.
During the same time period, 51 cases of trafficking were reported in Arkansas, with 34, or 67 percent, being sex trafficking, according to the center report.
Gibson, according to a preliminary arrest report from the prosecutor’s office, admitted taking the girl to Springdale, renting a motel room, paying for her food and receiving the money the girl was paid for having sex.
The girl was a runaway from Fort Smith who met Gibson through Facebook, according to records.
Runaways are vulnerable to being solicited to be a prostitute, said Kathy O’Kelley, Springdale police chief.
“They are alone and usually don’t know anybody around them,” O’Kelley said. “They can be very easy prey.”
Springdale police received information from Fort Smith the girl was at the Economy Inn, 3574 W. Sunset Ave., according to the report. When contacted, she admitted she was prostituting herself, and told police Gregory convinced her to run away to become his prostitute.
The girl said Gregory created an Internet page for her on the website Backpage. She said she had sex eight or nine times since Jan. 24 and gave all the money she earned to Gibson, according to the report.
The girl told officers Gregory was in the next room. Officers found Gibson in that room with an 18-year-old girl, a bottle of liquor and some marijuana, according to the report. The girl admitted she had been drinking the alcohol provided by Gregory, and smoking marijuana.
Gibson was in the Washington County Detention Center on Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond.