BATON ROUGE – Two people, one a 16-year-old girl, were rescued from a sex trafficking operation, WBRZ learned Friday.

Two men from out-of-town were arrested in connection with the sex sale through known prostitution site Backpage.com. Aaron Hayes was booked with trafficking juveniles for sex purposes and Malcolm Ford was booked on charges in Arkansas. Though, investigators listed Ford as a “co-defendant” on booking information obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit.

The arrests happened around 7 o'clock Thursday off Sherwood Forest.

Police said Hayes, Ford and an unidentified 16-year-old girl were at a motel after traveling from Arkansas to Houston then east to Baton Rouge. While driving from Texas to Louisiana, another unidentified woman was picked-up and told police she was solicited to work as a prostitute along with the teenager.

Police in Arkansas had been tracking the original three and notified police here.

Authorities said they found scandalous ads on the website, advertising for sex acts. Police also believe the teenager was beaten for not making enough money.

Hayes was also found with marijuana and a gun stolen from Monroe.

It was not immediately clear what became of the two women, though police typically find victims of sex trafficking safe refuge.  

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