Sheriff Rescues 18-Year-Old Sex Trafficking Victim In Brandon

BRANDON, FL — For seven weeks, she lived a nightmare. Held captive and forced to have sex for money with a parade of men in a hotel room off East Adamo Drive and Falkenburg Road, the 18-year-old was quickly losing hope.

Her captor kept all the money the johns paid to have sex with her and took away the teen's identification and debit card, so she had no means to escape.

When the young woman grew too tired to perform sex acts, her captor plied her with methamphetamine to keep her awake.

Fortunately, the teen had some guardian angels watching over her.

Acting on a tip, Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives conducted an undercover operation at the hotel on Dec. 4 and watched as a revolving door of men entered and exited the hotel room occupied by 28-year-old Paige Ashley Fried and the 18-year-old woman.

Eventually, Fried left the hotel with the 18-year-old woman, and detectives pounced. They pulled over Fried's car and arrested her for possession of illegal drugs. At the same time, they took the 18-year-old, who had an outstanding warrant for grand theft, into custody.

“It’s very likely that this arrest saved her life,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “Once in custody, the 18-year-old woman told deputies she was being held against her will by Fried.”

Detectives learned that from Oct. 20 to Dec. 4, Fried used force, fraud and coercion to manipulate the 18-year-old into performing sex with men for money at various locations in Hillsborough County.

According to detectives, Fried posted ads about the victim's availability on adult escort websites and then made arrangements with the johns who responded to her ads to meet at a hotel room.

Detectives said Fried controlled the 18-year-old with threats, drugs and by denying her access to money she could use to escape.

Even after the 18-year-old contracted a sexually transmitted disease, Fried continued to force her to perform sexual acts for money, said detectives. When the teen girl grew too tired to perform, detectives said Fried dosed her with drugs to keep her awake.

“I can’t emphasize enough that this young woman is the textbook definition of a human trafficking victim,” said Chronister. “Thanks to her having the courage to speak up, Paige Fried is now in jail facing a felony charge for human trafficking.”

Hillsborough Sheriff

Paige Ashley Fried was charged with coerce for commercial sex act by human trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Chronister said the 18-year-old's rescue was part of two undercover human trafficking operations that resulted in five arrests.

In a separate investigation Dec. 17-18, undercover detectives made contact with four people through an Internet sex site and an app often used by predators to chat with minors anonymously.

During that sting, Chronister said Andres Dario Betancur, 36, and Rudy Siam, 40, thought they were chatting with a 14-year-old boy online and traveled to meet him for sex at a location off U.S. 301 and Interstate 4.

Betancur was arrested and charged with traveling to meet a minor to solicit certain illegal acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and transmission of harmful material to a minor.

Siam was charged with Rudy Siam traveling to meet a minor to solicit certain illegal acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, use of computer services or devices to solicit certain illegal acts and driving with a revoked license.

Additionally, Chronister said Timothy John Matthews, 56, and Carl Franklin Bergman, 58, believed they were communicating with a 14-year-old girl and traveled to meet her at the same location off U.S. 301. He said Bergman, who offered to pay the teen $100 in exchange for sex, was arrested carrying a satchel with a concealed firearm and a condom inside.

He's charged with traveling to meet a minor to solicit certain illegal acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, use of computer services or devices to solicit certain illegal acts and transmission of harmful material to a minor.

Bergam was charged with traveling to meet a minor to solicit certain illegal acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and use of computer services or devices to solicit certain illegal acts.

“These cases should serve as a reminder for parents to monitor their children’s online activity,” said Chronister. “Know what websites they are visiting; look at the apps on their phones; and don’t be afraid to ask who they are talking to. It’s not an invasion of privacy. It’s our duty and responsibility as parents to protect them from predators like these men.

The five arrests in December follow two operations dubbed Trade Secrets I and II that led to the arrest of 189 people between January and November 2019.

“Our efforts never stopped after those operations ended,” said Chronister. “I can promise you, we will not stop targeting human trafficking until we put a stop to this despicable trade in Hillsborough County.”

The arrests come at an auspicious time. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time when law enforcement agencies and groups working to end human trafficking pull out all the stops to make the public aware that the woman sitting next to them on the bus might very well be a victim.

"Recognizing red flags is a key step to identifying victims," said Chronister. "Someone being trafficked could be working in the commercial sex industry, but doing so against their will. They could be with someone controlling who monitors where they go and who they talk to, and has possession of their money, bank cards and identification."

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Florida ranks third in the nation behind California and Texas for the number of calls received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888).

To combat the problem, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties have formed human trafficking task forces in the hopes of curbing the problem in Tampa Bay, one of the top areas in Florida for human trafficking.

Additionally, both governmental bodies throughout Tampa Bay have declared themselves Trafficking Free Zones. Pasco County was the first to take the leap in 2017. Since then, Pinellas County and the cities of St. Petersburg, Temple Terrace, Clearwater, Dade City and New Port Richey have followed suit.

The Trafficking Free Zone initiative launched by the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking focuses on reducing the demand for sex-trafficked victims by arresting and prosecuting sex buyers instead of the victims who are being sold.

The problem is pervasive in both urban and rural areas of Tampa Bay, said Geoffrey Rogers is co-founder of the nonprofit institute. Tampa now ranks 12th of all American cities for the number of human trafficking calls per capita.

To demonstrate the scope of the problem, Trafficking Free Zone tallied the number of online ads to buy or sell sex that were placed in Pinellas County over a 60-day period. There were more than 32,000 ads.

"We have a serious demand problem and, even if law enforcement worked every single day, running sting operations and arresting sex buyers, they’d never be able to arrest our way out of this problem," said Rogers.

He said it's going to take a multi-faceted approach that includes educating students in the schools to prevent them from being lured into sex trafficking and educating teachers, medical professionals, law enforcement and others who work in the trenches to spot victims and then connect them with appropriate resources, so they receive help.

The Hillsborough Sheriff's Office is heeding Rogers' advice. The 18-year-old woman who was rescued is currently receiving medical help, counseling and other support with the help of the nonprofit Selah Freedom Foundation.