Fayetteville man charged with human sex trafficking
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- A 24-year-old Fayetteville man is behind bars charged with forcing an underage girl into prostitution.
Deputies say Layon Franklin Robinson surrendered to officers Monday and was jailed on $200,000 bond. He is charged with promoting prostitution and facilitating prostitution of a minor."
A sheriff's spokesperson said Robinson ran an online escort service using his cell phone.
"He actually is setting up dates via his cell phone, then taking the victims of prostitution to local motels, and she was forced to do so against her will," said sheriff's spokesperson Debbie Tanna.
Tanna said sheriff's detectives had been investigating Robinson for the past year. However, because of the minor girl's age, they couldn't comment on her relationship with Robinson.
"This is a case of a young girl that became friends with the man, who actually brought her into prostitution and she was forced to do so against her will", said Tanna.
Right now, Tanna said the charges against Robinson involved just one underage girl. They are not sure how many more victims there may be.
"A lot of young people don't realize they are prey sometimes," said Tanna, "and people looking for crimes of opportunity are often easy targets."
Robinson is set to make a first court appearance on Feb. 19.
