Anton Morris, a 39-year-old north county resident, is accused of sex trafficking three women -- ages sixteen, seventeen and nineteen -- and selling them out of a St. Louis motel until they were able to escape through a window.
St. Louis county police announced today that Morris, who lived on the 11600 block of Fox Hall in Florissant, has been charged with two counts of sexual trafficking of a child, a class A felony, and one count of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, a class B felony. A $100,000 cash-only bond was set.
How did the women escape?
The charges were issued after the north county police precinct responded to a call from the 6500 block of Dallavis Drive in Florissant from a woman who said that she and two other female acquaintances "had been held captive and forced to perform sexual acts," police say.
Officers then contacted two women, ages seventeen and nineteen, who "reported they had escaped through a bedroom window of a nearby residence where they were held against their will by Morris."
A sixteen-year-old girl, they told police, was still at the residence and still facing sexual exploitation.
Officers responded and arrested Morris at his home -- and recovered the sixteen-year-old victim.
County police say:
Morris enticed the girls into performing sexual acts for money after he rented them a St. Louis County area motel room and advertised sexual encounters for money with the three girls through various social media outlets. After three days of such acts, he took the girls to his residence on Fox Hall. When Morris later fell asleep, two of the three girls escaped and called the police.
Morris does not yet have an attorney listed online.
Here's the full news release:
St. Louis County Police - Sex Trafficking Charges
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