Illinois man accused of holding woman against will caught in Ohio

Text to woman’s mom led police to make arrest on bus.

A 27-yearold WESTLAKE, OHIO — man is accused of holding a woman working as a prostitute against her will and managing her sexual activities, police say.

Darnell Stennis, of Peoria, Illinois, is charged with promoting prostitution, according to Rocky River Municipal Court records.

He waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is scheduled to make his initial appearance Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, according to court records.

Stennis managed the 26-year-old woman who worked as a prostitute throughout Ohio and surrounding states, court records say.

Police received a call Feb. 5 about a woman being held against her will on a Lakefront Bus Lines bus that stopped on the side of Interstate 90 near the Crocker Road exit, Westlake police Capt. Gerald Vogel said.

The woman told the bus driver what was happening. The man, identified as Stennis, also was on the bus, Vogel said.

Stennis denied the accusations and claimed they were a couple who enjoyed traveling together, Vogel said.

He told authorities he and the woman dated for a month and were staying at the Red Roof Inn in Independence, a police report says.

Police took Stennis into custody. He is currently in the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $500,000 bond, Vogel said. Police searched Stennis and found the woman’s ID, a hotel room key, $100, an iPhone and charger, the report says.

The woman was taken to a shelter in Cleveland, the report says.

During the investigation, officials learned the woman met Stennis in January on Facebook, reports say. The two messaged each other until the woman felt comfortable enough to invite him over to her place, the report says.

She admitted to authorities to posting advertisements on Backpage.com. Stennis told her to post her photo again and kept all of the money she got from dates, the report says.