Four men charged in multi-agency sex trafficking operation near Branson

Lina Portman1 week ago

28 2 minutes read

Four men were arrested and charged this week as part of a multi-agency sex trafficking operation in Stone and Taney counties, including the Branson area.

Nayib Saldana, Dalton Parton, Christian Diewert and Mariko Kwizera were booked into the Stone County Jail, where they are being held without bail.

Other people have been arrested but have not yet been charged.

The case involved the posting of a sexually explicit advertisement online with an underage character. Court documents used to charge the men say the figure told each man a different age, agreed on an amount to be paid and provided a time and address for a meeting.

Saldana, 26, was charged with attempted sex trafficking of a child under 18. A resident of Little Rock, Arkansas, he was in the area for work.

Court documents used to charge Saldana say he responded to a sexually explicit online ad and was told it cost $150 to have sex with a 16-year-old. He showed up at the meeting place with cash and two condoms.

Parton, 26, of Branson, responded to an online ad Monday and agreed to send $150 through an app in exchange for sex with a 17-year-old.

Shortly after midnight, Parton approached the address where the meeting was planned before turning toward an empty lot where law enforcement was waiting, then fled. He stopped more than a half-mile away, but initially told officers he had just taken a drive.

A screen in the vehicle connected to Parton's phone displayed a map of the arranged meeting location, according to court documents.

Diewert, 22, of Springfield, also responded to an online ad and agreed to pay $120 to have sex with a 16-year-old and drove to an address in County Stone. He was arrested as he approached the house and told police he was a Canadian citizen who had been living in the United States for a year.

Parton and Diewert were charged with attempted sex trafficking of a child under 18.

Kwizera, 28, of Kansas City, responded to an online ad and agreed to pay $150 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl and offered to bring a case of White Claw, an alcoholic beverage , at the Stone County venue. , according to court documents.

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, Kwizera lived in Kansas City, Kansas. He was arrested at the meeting place with alcohol and a case of beer.

He was accused of inciting or attempting to incite a child under the age of 15.

The investigation Monday and Tuesday involved the Stone County Sheriff's Office, Taney County Sheriff's Office, Branson Police Department, COMET Drug Task Force, Trafficking Task Force of Human Beings of the Missouri Attorney General and the Pathways Project.

In a news release, the Stone County Sheriff's Office said investigators made contact with commercial sex workers and provided them with services and resources. Several of these workers were identified as victims of human trafficking.

Lina Portman

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