By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
A suspect in a human trafficking operation in St. Joseph last week now faces charges.
Buchanan County prosecutors charged 35-year-old Derek Alan Deal of Excelsior Springs with promoting prostitution - a 3rd degree felony.
Court documents show that Deal allegedly drove a victim from her home in Kansas City to Love's Truck Stop in St. Joseph to meet an individual she had been in contact with to have sex for $250.
Deal admitted to investigators that he was paid $20 to drive the victim to the truck stop, and admitted to driving the victim to different locations to perform sex acts for $20 in the past, according to a probable cause statement.
A human trafficking operation conducted last Friday at Love's Truck Stop and Bucky's Travel Plaza in St. Joseph led to three arrests and the rescue of six victims -five female and one male. A two-year-old and an infant were also rescued, according to police.
The joint operation was organized by the St. Joseph Police Department, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Attorney General’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.
The investigation is ongoing.