BATON ROUGE - A man booked in 2019 on charges tied to prostitution is now accused of forcing at least two juvenile girls to have sex with strangers at a Baton Rouge hotel.

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety said 26-year-old Kevontae Reed was arrested Saturday on human trafficking charges when law enforcement uncovered the sex-trafficking operation after they found two girls, ages 13 and 14, at the Shades Motel on Airline Highway back in August. 

The teens told investigators that a man known to them as "Weedy" had them set up "plays" by phone with other men. Arrest documents noted that "plays" is a commonly used slang term for prostitution.

According to the girls, the man known as "Weedy" told them they had to "earn" the right to stay in his hotel room by having sex with random men.

One of the girls told officers "it felt like I was being forced to do it" and "they would dump me out on the streets if I didn't make money," according to arrest documents. 

The 14-year-old girl had recently run away from her foster home with another 15-year-old girl, who was also being "taken to different motels around Baton Rouge."

Officers were able to obtain room records from the hotel and determined the room was rented out by Reed. One of the victims was also able to identify Reed as the culprit. 

Reed was also arrested in 2019 on similar charges when he was accused of forcing women into prostitution at another hotel in East Baton Rouge.