A well-known activist who played a significant role assisting Black Lives Matter activists and other demonstrators in Ferguson and Baltimore was arrested last month in Prince George’s County and charged with prostitution and human trafficking.
Police accuse Charles Wade — founder of Operation Help or Hush — of using online ads to organize meetings between a 17-year-old girl and Johns who paid her for sex, according to court documents.
Wade was arrested, the documents state, on suspicion of setting up a meeting April 25 at a Howard Johnson Inn in College Park, where the teenager agreed to have sex with an undercover detective during a sting operation.
The police report, provided to The Post by the Prince George’s County state’s attorney office, alleges that Wade was “watching” the undercover officer as he entered the hotel room in which the prostitution was scheduled to take place.
In a subsequent interview with police, the documents state, the woman said Wade was aware of her age and referred to himself as her “manager.”
“You only have five months until you’re 18 so I’m not worried,” he is accused of telling her, according to the documents.
Wade has vehemently denied the charges. In a statement posted on Twitter, he said he had been providing temporary housing for the teenager, who had apparently told him she was 20. He said his organization handles large numbers of temporary-housing requests for people in need and that he had treated the young woman’s situation accordingly, using hotel rewards points he had amassed over the years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/05/24/ferguson-activist-accused-of-prostituting-a-17-year-old-girl/