Teen Runaway Sold for Sex by St. Pete Woman, Deputies Say

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A 33-year-old St. Petersburg woman faces human trafficking charges after Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies say she prostituted a 14-year-old girl.

According to the sheriff’s office, the teen contacted them on Oct. 20 and said she was having sexual encounters with men for money. The victim told detectives she ran away earlier in the month and needed a place to stay. Katilia Seymour provided the girl a motel room, but there was a catch, the agency noted in an email to media.

“In return, the victim agreed to engage in prostitution,” the email said.

In order to find clients for the girl, Seymour is accused of taking photos of the teen wearing only a tank top and panties. Those images, the email said, were then posted to the Backpage.com website “for the purpose of promoting prostitution.”

See also: Human Trafficking: Hidden in Suburbia

Men who responded to the advertisement paid $180 to have sexual relations with the victim, the email said. “Seymour would then collect more than half of the money for herself,” the email noted.

The sheriff’s office said it was able to corroborate the girl’s allegations. Seymour was arrested on Friday, Oct. 28.

The teen, who is not being identified, was placed into the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, the sheriff’s office said.

No further information is available at this time, but the agency said its investigation remains active.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office