EVERETT — A Mill Creek woman is due in court early next month to answer to allegations that she encouraged her then 15-year-old daughter to engage in prostitution.
The woman, 44, admitted that she knew her daughter was selling sex and the girl paid her at least $300. She told detectives that she tried to stop her daughter but her hands were tied.
“I am on hard times and she is giving me money for the cell phone she ran up,” the woman told detectives.
Prosecutors on Friday charged the woman with two counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. The Herald is not naming the woman to protect the identity of her minor daughter.
In February, a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective was investigating online sex ads when he saw the girl’s picture. The photographs depicted a girl who appeared younger than 18.
The detective learned her legal name and found a police report showing that she had been contacted by Everett police. A motel manager called 911 to report that the girl was sleeping in a room not rented to her after check-out hours. He also found a report showing that Fife police officers found the drunk teenager wearing a mini skirt and a low-cut shirt loitering in an area known for prostitution and drugs.
She admitted to Fife detectives that she was engaged in prostitution. She was released to her mother.
The Snohomish County sheriff’s detective searched the girl’s phone and read more than 14,000 text messages, which clearly indicated that she was arranging sex with strangers for money. The messages also show that her mother knew what she was doing, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes wrote. The woman was giving the girl instructions on how to perform sex acts, court papers said. She also told the girl to give her money.
Detectives spoke with one of the girl’s counselors at a drug and alcohol treatment center who said the girl admitted that she was engaged in prostitution and gave some of her earnings to her mother.
Investigators later spoke with the girl who admitted that her mother encouraged her and often picked her up from hotels and motels so they could spend time together. The girl turned 16 late last year.
It is estimated that about 250 girls and women are engaged in prostitution in Snohomish County. That is a rough estimate because prostitution and sex trafficking mostly have gone underground with “dates” being arranged online instead of women walking the streets.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
Report trafficking
To report human trafficking, call the county’s 24-hour hotline at 425-258-9037. To request more information about trafficking or to set up an educational presentation send an email to humantrafficking@providence.org.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
