Utah man, girlfriend held in child-prostitution case
Scottsdale police arrested a Utah couple on Saturday after investigators said they had recruited a 15-year-old runaway to work as a prostitute in exchange for food and shelter, according to court documents. Christopher Crayton, 28, and his girlfriend Linda Arce, 22, were arrested after police responded to a hotel near Loop 101 and Shea Boulevard because people had reported drugs and prostitution in the area, according to court records.
Police investigating the area noticed a girl sitting near the hotel and made contact with her, according to court documents.
The girl initially told police she was 18, but officers later determined she was 15 and listed as a runaway from Glendale in their database, according to court records. The victim said that she was friends with the couple and that she was staying with them in the hotel, according to court records.
Crayton and Arce both denied any knowledge that the girl was underage or a runaway, and police arrested the cou- ple on allegations that they contributed to the delinquency of a minor, according to a police report.
The 15-year-old girl later told authorities that Crayton took her from a friend’s house to the hotel on Thursday and that Crayton and Arce told her she could make money if she engaged in prostitution, according to investigators.
The girl told officers that she met with multiple buyers and did not engage in sex acts but did give them massages while they were naked, according to court records.
Crayton would arrange the meetings and drive the girl there, according to court records.
The girl told police she made about $800 but turned it all over to Crayton because he provided the teen with food and shelter, according to a police report.
Crayton spoke to police after he was read his rights and said he had known the girl for about two weeks and that he picked her up from a mutual friend’s house and drove her to the hotel, according to court records. Crayton said the girl was supposed to stay with Arce while he was out visiting family and friends.
Crayton denied any knowledge of any type of prostitution activity other than what he said was Arce’s previous history of prostitution, according to court records.
The couple were being held on a $100,000 bond, according to court records.