The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Man charged with trafficking

File+%28The+Daily+Iowan%2FJoseph+Cress%29
The Daily Iowan; Photos by Josep
File (The Daily Iowan/Joseph Cress)

An Iowa City man has been accused of human trafficking.

Arrion West, 24, 2420 Bittersweet Court, was charged March 30 with human trafficking, pimping, domestic abuse/assault impeding air/blood flow, false imprisonment, and pandering for prostitution.

According to the arrest affidavit, officers were sent to Travel Lodge after receiving reports of a 17-year-old girl being held against her will in a room.

Officers discovered West and the girl had had a physical fight, the affidavit said, which involved West assaulting the girl and not allowing her to leave. West put pressure on the girl’s neck, the affidavit said, and also hit her in the face.

When questioned later, the affidavit said, the girl said West had been her pimp since January. The two met through a webpage, the affidavit said, and West persuaded her to be a prostitute.

Often, the girl said she and West lived in hotel rooms, the affidavit said, and West advertised sex for money online, causing the girl to have to have sex with the men who responded to the advertisement.

The girl told officers she had to have sex three to four times a day in hotel rooms and all the money was given to West, the affidavit said.

The girl also said she knew West was a pimp for other girls, the affidavit said.

Officers also found a marijuana pipe in the hotel room, the affidavit said, and West admitted he gave the girl marijuana.

Pimping and human trafficking are Class-C felonies; pandering for prostitution is a Class-D felony.

— Kayli Reese

More to Discover