CLARKSVILLE: April 29,2016 - Man Arrested, Charged in TBI Human Trafficking Case

Description

SEE UPDATES to this case August 12 & August 25, 2016 @ the bottom of this report.

Special Agents in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Human Trafficking Unit, assisted by Drug Investigation Division Agents and the Clarksville Police Department, have arrested and charged a Clarksville man accused of trafficking a juvenile for the purpose of sex.

After receiving information from the National Human Trafficking Hotline this week, TBI Agents began investigating Michael Scott Helton. During the course of the investigation, Agents developed information that this week Helton, an unregistered sex offender, trafficked a 17-year-old female for the purpose of providing a commercial sex act at a motel in Clarksville.

On Thursday night, authorities arrested the 34-year-old and charged him with one count of Trafficking for a Commercial Sex Act. Law enforcement officers subsequently booked Helton into the Montgomery County Jail, where at the time of this release he was being held on $55,000 bond. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Child Advocacy Center are assisting TBI in caring for the recovered juvenile.

The TBI administers a state hotline for those with information or tips about possible cases of human trafficking. The contact number for the Tennessee Human Trafficking Hotline, along with additional resources about this type of crime, can be found online at www.ithastostop.com.

UPDATE - August 12, 2016: Woman charged with Sex Trafficking of Minor

A Clarksville woman was arrested Thursday after a grand jury indicted her on charges of trafficking a 17-year-old for sex acts.

Kiersten Napodano, 22, was charged with human trafficking and money laundering.

According to the indictment, Napodano broke the law by "recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, or providing" a 17-year-old for sex acts April 28. She also is accused of knowingly using proceeds from human trafficking to promote trafficking for sex acts.

She was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and released on $52,500 bond.

Her arrest came 3 1/2 months after Michael Scott Helton, 35, of Clarksville was charged with human trafficking in the same case April 29.

UPDATE - August 25, 2016

A Clarksville man was arrested Tuesday and is being charged along with two others in the trafficking of a 17-year-old for sex acts.

According to an indictment handed down by a Montgomery County grand jury this month, Jason Michael Carpenter, 43, committed the act of patronizing prostitution April 28 by purchasing or obtaining a 17-year-old for commercial sex acts

Carpenter, who gave an Alexander Boulevard address, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Two other people are also charged with human trafficking in the case.

On Aug. 11, Kiersten Napodano, 22, was charged with human trafficking and money laundering.

Woman charged with sex trafficking of minor in Clarksville

According to the indictment, Napodano broke the law by "recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, or providing" a 17-year-old for sex acts April 28. She also is accused of knowingly using proceeds from human trafficking to promote trafficking for sex acts.

She was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and released on $52,500 bond.