St. Cloud Man Charged With Trafficking Woman [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD -- A St. Cloud man has been formally charged with sex trafficking a woman for money. Thirty-six-year-old Iyontay Williams is charged with sex trafficking of an individual and receiving profits from prostitution, both felonies.

The arrest stemmed from a month-long investigation of a woman who was being trafficked over the last year.

Last month, the woman contacted the Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center and said she wanted to share her story with police about being a victim of prostitution. According to police, the woman told stories of being a meth addict and how Williams would provide her with drugs and set up appointments with men to have sex for money.

Court records show the woman was trying to get sober and was about to be released from a treatment center but was afraid Williams would hurt her and push her back into prostitution.

The woman gave officers permission to search her phone and found thousands of text messages between her and Williams dating back to March. Those messages revolved around the woman providing sex acts for money.

Police were unable to find Williams and arrest him until they set up a sting. Acting as the woman, police texted Williams to say she was getting out of treatment and had money for him. Officers arrested Williams when he came to the location they had set up for the meeting.