Two suspected pimps are facing charges after they tried to recruit two teenage girls in downtown Seattle last week. Those teens actually turned out to be two undercover cops working a sting operation.
Last Thursday, August 23rd, two officers went undercover, posing as 17 year olds in a sting in Westlake Park. Around 4pm, two men, Bruce Jerome Brooks and Michael Deshawn Gaines, walked up to the two officers, who were sitting near the Westlake Park fountain, and struck up a conversation.
Gaines told one of the officers he used to be a pimp and wanted to get back into the business, and said she should come work for him. He then told the officer he would help rent hotel rooms for her, and gave the officer tips on how to haggle with johns over the cost of various sex acts. When the officer mentioned that she was only 17, Gaines told her she would have to lie to johns about her age.
Brooks then tried to convince the officers to get in his car. Instead, an arrest team moved in and took both men into custody.
Prosecutors have now charged Gaines and Brooks with attempted promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. Both men are being held at the King County Jail.