Thirteen active-duty soldiers were among the twenty men arrested in a prostitution sting in Bell County, Texas.
The men ranked from private to major, reports the Killeen Daily Herald.
The men paid for ‘sex’ that ranged in cost from $60 to $200. In actuality, they were paying investigators who were seeking to do a sting, an operation that generally involves deception.
One man left his wife and mother waiting in his car in a hotel parking lot while he went inside for sex.
Another requested a ‘two-fer’, or sex with both a minor and an older woman. Yet another also asked for sex with a minor.
It is not clear whether these two men, both of whom could be charged with felonies, were soldiers or not.
All men will be charged with solicitation of prostitution, a crime that in Texas can carry a maximum prison sentence of two years and a fine of $10,000.
Five of the twenty men were arrested at a hotel in Salado, Texas and the remaining fifteen were arrested at a hotel in Killeen, Texas.
The arrested men were booked in the hotel rooms. All were released on bonds ranging from $1,500 to $2,500, reports KWTX.
In total, 20 men were caught in the sting. The seven non-soldiers, from top to bottom and from left to right, are: Romelle People, 49; Sean Muselman, 41; Leonard Slade, 30; Christopher Webster, 32; David Hunter, 47; Denzel Clifton, 24; and Robert Lassiter, 33
The Bell County Sheriff’s office told Stars and Stripes that the sting was done to combat sex trafficking in the region.
Twelve of the soldiers implicated in the sting are Donta White, 35; Gregory Hughes, 34; Jimmie Joiner, 23; Kendrick Davis, 28; Stanley Ervin, 41; Xavier Horne, 22; Adrian Upshaw, 22; Carlos Castillo, 33; Ernest Grant, 39; Natalion Seymour, 38; Joseph Bartolomei, 44; Dontae Johnson, 35; and Michael Culpepper, 36.
Many of the soldiers were stationed at Fort Hood, near Killeen. It is not yet clear how their military careers might be affected.
Pictured is a view of Fort Hood, where many of the soldiers were stationed. Fort Hood is near Killeen